Uncontrolled
by NotxFadexAway
Summary: Buffy dies in combat shortly after the events of "Chosen". The Powers that Be, however, aren't quite finished with her yet. Rated T for now, but will be rated M later.
1. Break It

**| Chapter One: **Break It |

**Disclaimer:** I wish I owned both series, but I don't. Instead two geniuses brought forth two amazing series into the world and I can only sit back and admire their handiwork. Thanks Tite Kubo & Josh Whedon.

**Summary:**Buffy dies in combat shortly after the events of "Chosen". The Powers that Be, however, aren't quite finished with her yet.

**Author's Note:**Hey Guys! Alright so I finally caved and decided to write a BuffyxBleach Crossover because I never find any around the net and I just really want to put one out there, which I guess is as good an excuse as any.

Just a couple of things I want to note before I begin this little adventure:

**(1)**There will be no other 'Buffy' character appearances and no trips between Soul Society and Sunnydale. The only trips that might be made would be trips between Soul Society and Karakura Town. Sorry to disappoint!

**(2) **If I spell any names wrong (which, I will be looking up all the correct spellings, so I hopefully won't) please let me know in your reviews.

**(3)**The story will take place after the events of 'Chosen' in the BtVS world and will NOT include any Season 8 Comic Stuff since I haven't read the comics and don't know what is going on. In terms of Bleach, the story will take place after the war against Aizen and after Ichigo regains his powers, but before the Quincy invasion of Soul Society because I have no idea what to make of this Arc and I don't want to plop Buffy in the middle of an unfinished Arc/War.

**(4) **If I randomly stop writing the story, harass the crap out of me via email or my user account or w/e. Sometimes I get sidetracked with other things :-/.

Feel free to send flames my way, but be warned, I'll probably just ignore them unless they're constructive criticism.

* * *

|| Chapter One - Break It ||

* * *

Buffy Summers dodged out the way of an incoming sword and rolled over a previously broken bench while silently cursing her luck. When Willow had released the power from the scythe a few weeks ago, Buffy knew that her own power would be greatly weakened, but she had no idea that she would basically be a walking bruise after facing off against the most basic vampires. All this time Buffy had thought she would have a life of normalcy, but she quickly realized that after everything she had seen and done, a life of normalcy was nearly impossible. Which brought her to her current situation.

Buffy had left a nightclub in downtown New York after somewhat convincing the younger slayers that she had been partying with that she felt sick and just wanted to return to their hotel to sleep. The truth was that Buffy just didn't feel like partying. She was getting too old for the nightclub scene, which was funny considering she was only 24. Even though she was still young, however, Buffy knew that the real reason was that the girls she was with had only just received their incredible power so they had more energy to expend and were more excited about "living it up" than she was. After 9 years of being the original slayer, Buffy was simply tired both physically and mentally. The activities that brought her the most excitement now days were sleeping, reading gossip magazines, and watching whatever TV shows she had most recently saved on TiVo. Her dreams of travelling the globe hadn't really extended beyond the US yet. And her dreams most definitely did not consist of battling vampires in the middle of Central Park, but here she was.

Buffy silently cursed her luck again as the foot of the vampire on her left connected with her stomach and simultaneously knocked the wind out of her and sent her flying across the park. On her way home from the club, Buffy had heard a shriek from a woman in the park and without thinking, she immediately jumped into the fray. Old habits most definitely died hard. She hadn't even considered the fact that she was nowhere near her past level in terms of strength. If she met with more than two vampires, she wasn't even sure if she would make it out of the battle alive anymore. Luckily for her, her current battle was with only two vampires. Recovering from the fall, Buffy sprang upwards and landed a roundhouse kick to the vampire on the right before staking the one on her left in his momentary distraction. As she rounded on the fallen vampire, she snatched up a piece of the broken bench and used the arm rest as leverage to deliver another air born kick that sent the vamp flying once more. Landing on both feet, Buffy swung her arm in a downward arc and impaled the vampire with the makeshift stake.

As she dusted her hands off, Buffy sighed in relief, and made her way back to the entrance of the park. Finally, it was time to go home. As she neared the exit, Buffy was suddenly thrown through the air and sent crashing into a tree, breaking branches and bones as she went. Hissing through the sudden onslaught of pain, Buffy shook her head to clear the spots that appeared in her vision and looked up to see what had attacked her. Looking out into the darkness, it wasn't hard to spot her attacker. A shock of teal-colored hair graced Buffy's vision as she took in the male before her. He was standing only a few feet from her with a wicked looking katana outstretched towards her. His baggy, white, Aladdin-y pants would have been amusing to her if he had not just thrown her into a tree without so much as batting an eyelash. She also couldn't help but notice that right above the waist band of his pants was a giant hole that went clear through his stomach. Her eyes widened at the sight, and she noticed - with a slight bit of horror - that she could see no blood dripping from the gaping hole and that the wound seemed to not affect the male at all. She continued to watch him as he straightened his opened jacket briefly before deciding that he would not need his katana after all.

Buffy decided that that was a decision she would make sure he regretted. Leaping onto her feet, Buffy snatched the sword that the earlier-dusted vamp had dropped and lunged after her teal-haired antagonizer. As she brought the sword down to strike him, however, she was horrified to learn that he was no longer in front of her. When had he moved? As she awkwardly planted her sword into the ground with the force of her swing, she saw stars once more and her a 'crack' in her upper back as something collided forcefully against the skin of her back. Stumbling forward, once again breathless, Buffy was further suffocated as her opponent wrapped a hand around her throat and pinned her up against the tree that he had thrown her into only moments before.

"Let's get this over with quickly. I don't feel like playing around anymore and I want to collect my reward," the man sneered as he said the last part and made a show of rolling his eyes up at the sky.

Buffy gasped for air as her face started to develop a bluish tint. The man before her was absurdly strong and she knew that there was no possible way for her to beat him. That didn't mean she wasn't going to try, though. Kicking her foot upwards, Buffy's foot collided with Mr. Teal's manhood and caused him to stumble backwards, roaring in agony. With the temporary distraction, Buffy started to run out of the park as fast as she could. She didn't know who the man that had attacked her was, but he was obviously sent with the purpose of killing her. Not that that was anything new. Buffy pretty much had a line of people waiting to put the slayer in her final resting place. The difference was, usually the people that wanted Buffy dead were at least killable in some way, shape, or form. This guy, however, was a giant muscular mass of raw power. Even kicking him in his manhood had caused Buffy to break the big toe of her right foot, which she was now ignoring that pain in order to escape her current situation. If Mr. Teal caught up with her, Buffy knew it was game over.

Which is why she let out mournful whimper when she ran a few feet forward, only to collide with the brick wall that was her attacker. As she stumbled backward a few feet, she was shocked as the man placed one hand around her waist and another on her chest, just over her heart. Looking equal parts annoyed and downright pissed, Buffy stood still as she waited to see what her attacker would do. She didn't have to wait long as she felt a burning sensation over her chest. As she looked down in confusion, the burning intensified and a red ball of energy was forming in the palm of the hand of the man before her. As she cried out in pain, she could only watch - in frozen shock -as a laser beam of red light blasted a clean hole, the size of a bowling ball, through her upper torso. Mouth opened in a silent scream, Buffy watched as the man before her smirked before opening what appeared to be a rip in the night sky, and faded into the darkness above her. As she turned half way to look behind her, Buffy saw that the damage from red beam had managed to destroy most of the park.

Suddenly feeling cold, and very , very, tired, Buffy Summers finally clamped her mouth shut as her eyes rolled up into her head and her world descended into darkness as her corpse hit the ground in the middle of Central Park.

* * *

Opening her eyes, Buffy expected to be floating through the familiar cloud of peace that she had experienced during her second death. What greeted her, however, was not what she expected at all. No, instead Buffy Summers found herself lying on a wooden floor in the middle of a vast hall that had many obscure paintings hanging on its walls. As she pushed herself to her feet, she whirled around to see the one person that had consistently made her life miserable over the past 9 years - Whistler.

Rolling her eyes sharply, Buffy folded her arms over her chest, "I'm dead, right?"

"Right," Whistler replied and offered her a cheeky smile.

"Then how bout you guys let me stay dead? Haven't I done enough for you over the past few years?"

"You have, but your destiny calls for you to do more. Always more," Whistler shrugged and started humming to himself.

"So what's the deal this time? Need me to slay naturally-born dragons in a hell dimension? Or do you want me to plant rose gardens in a world three moons away?"

"Actually you wouldn't find naturally-born dragons in a hell dimension only ones created by hell gods," at her glare Whistler continued, "We need you to become a shinigami in the 9th division of soul society's army which is headed by Captain Muguruma Kensei."

"You need me to become what in the what with the who?" Buffy asked, perplexed.

"A shinigami. Basically they are soul reapers that collect souls from recently-deceased humans and bring them to soul society. They also protect these humans and the soul society from monsters known as hollows."

"And what are hollows?" Buffy asked, attempting to comprehend everything.

"Hollows are dark souls riddled with loneliness that attempt to consume other souls."

"So they basically make a buffet out of these other souls?" Buffy asked with a disgusted face.

Whistler nodded, "Yes. There are different types of hollows as well. Some are stronger than others, but you'll learn all this very quickly. The one that killed you was known as an Espada."

"An Esada?" Buffy asked, confused.

"Espada," Whistler corrected, "One of - if not the most - powerful hollows you can encounter. Your body as it was before was no match for it. We're still looking into why it was sent to kill you..." Whistler added at her questioning look.

"Okay, soooo I become this shiny gummy thing," Buffy rolled her eyes as Whistler corrected her with 'shinigami', "What am I supposed to do exactly?"

"Whatever your captain asks you to do. The Soul Society has been a little short-staffed with all of the recent battles they have engaged in, so they need new members that they won't have to train. The Powers that Be work closely with the head of the Soul Society - Genryusai Yamamoto - to bring in champions that he can immediately place in whatever division he deems necessary."

As Buffy made to interrupt him, Whistler held up a hand and continued, "You're a different case though, kid. We're going to send you to Soul Society, but basically we're going to have to make you into an Uber Slayer."

"What? Why?"

"Because Soul Society has a long road ahead of it with plenty of 'Big Bads' along the way that Ichigo Kurosaki won't be able to handle on his own. We're sending in you as their big gun. Basically you'll be getting all of the original slayer's strength back, and then some, and then we'll be giving you captain commander-level shinigami powers and a few other talents that you'll eventually get along the way."

"None of that makes any sense to me. What's with all the cryptic?"

"It's better if some things are left unsaid, Slayer. You'll find out things as you go along. Oh - I almost forgot! The only people that will know about your power will be the captain commander, your own captain, Kensei , - and your vice-captain, Shuhei Hisagi. Also, you need to play down the 'I have power' thing until the real battles occur, otherwise you'll draw too much attention to yourself. "

"I really hope I remember all of this," Buffy muttered darkly, "If I do this, Whistler, what's in it for me?"

"Well...it's not like you really have a choice Buffy...but...I guess not going to hell is an incentive, right?"

At the low growl that escaped Buffy's lips Whistler held up both hands, "If it's any extra incentive, you'll be the third seat in Kensei's division and as a third seat and as a recruitment from the Powers that Be, you'll be paid more than generously for your efforts."

Buffy seemed to mull that over for a minute and after thinking of all the shopping that she could do, she finally nodded, "Fine...when do I leave?"

"Now," Whistler replied and opened up what appeared to be some kind of gate before her, "As you go through, the changes to your powers will occur. Your Captain and Vice Captain will be waiting for you when you land. Good luck Buffy!"

Buffy sighed in annoyance as she made her way through the gate. Before she completely disappeared through the gate, she could have sworn she heard Whistler shout 'And good luck figuring out your Sand Pact Toe and Bond Guy powers' but she couldn't be sure. None-the-less, she was pretty happy that she was no longer in Whistler's presence, otherwise she was sure that she would have had to punch him. Several times. Repeatedly.

As she emerged from the gate, Buffy immediately noticed several things at once. For one, she felt raw energy pumping throughout her body that was just waiting to be released. The power was giving her such a high that she could easily hear the sound of metal clashing against metal a few miles away from her current location. The second was that she was no longer in the leather shorts and sparkly halter top ensemble that was her club attire before she had died. Instead she was wearing some sort of black robe and sandals combo that looked like it belonged in one of those samurai movies from back home. Finally, she noticed that she was in some sort of office, standing across from two men. The one closest to her was leaning back against a large office desk that the one furthest from her was seated behind. The one closest to her had short, spiky black hair that stuck out at various odds and ends. He also had three parallel scars that ran down the right side of his face from his forehead to his chin. On the left side of his face, a bandage ran across his cheek, just under his eye to settle just past his nose. Right below the bandage, a tattoo of the number '69' was emblazoned on his cheek. With a curious raise of her eyebrow, Buffy vaguely wondered if the man knew what a 69 was.

Behind him, the seated man stared at her stoically from beneath his white-blonde hair. Unlike Buffy and the man closest to her, the seated man was wearing a white coat of some sort over his robe. Buffy automatically assumed that it meant he was important or something. As she nervously cleared her throat, Buffy watched as the seated man abruptly stood and moved out from behind his desk. As he made his way to stand directly in front of her, he stretched out his right hand to clasp her left in a firm shake.

"It's nice to meet you, Miss Summers, my name is Muguruma Kensei and I'll be your new captain. But...You can call me Kensei," he added as a second thought.

"This," he gestured to the man at his left who stood up straighter and flashed Buffy a brilliant smile, "Is Shuhei Hisagi and he will be your vice-captain. If you have any concerns or questions, you can report directly to him."

"It's nice to meet you, Buffy," Hisagi said as he also shook her hand.

"Thanks, it's nice to meet you guys too," Buffy said with a small smile and then frowned, "I just wish the circumstances were better," she added somewhat bitterly.

At their confusion, she cleared her throat nervously, "I just mean...you know...with the whole 'me dying' thing. Not that I'm not used to it by now, but, I still have family and what not back at home and with all of the slayers running loose in different cit -" she cut herself off at their further confusion, "And I'm done rambling now," she finished lamely.

Hisagi cleared his throat rather loudly before flashing her another smile, "Right, well, we know you must be rather uncomfortable with this new situation, but we're here if you need anything at all. Even if it's just to talk," Hisagi finished and ran a hand through his hair.

"We were told that you would come already knowing all of the kido that a 3rd seat should know," Kensei stated but it sounded more like a question.

Buffy opened and closed her mouth like a fish and then cleared her throat for what must have been the hundredth time. She was about to ask what kido was when the answers suddenly exploded in her mind, along with how to use the proper spells and techniques. 'Thanks Powers that Be mental delay' Buffy silently admonished as she looked back at her captain.

"Yeah! I definitely know all of the kido spells."

"Great! Today I'm basically having our division hone and refine those spells, but since you're already acquainted with them, I think your day would be better spent taking a tour of soul society with Hisagi."

"Okay, awesome," Buffy said nervously and then followed Hisagi as he motioned her over to him and out of the door.

As soon as they left the division, Buffy followed Hisagi as he made his way down a gravel-filled path towards a long-wooden building.

"Soo...our captain seems pretty cool," Buffy said, attempting to break the ice.

"Ah, yeah, he's in a pretty good mood today, so that's good. Sometimes he can be a little high-strung, but as long as your name isn't Mashiro and you don't have short green hair, you should be on his good side."

"I have a feeling I should feel really bad for that girl," Buffy said softly.

"Hmmm, well for the most part she's annoying enough to deserve it," Hisagi said with a laugh.

As they approached the long-wooden building, Hisagi stopped at the very last door along the strip and gestured for Buffy to enter, "This will be your room. It's right next to mine, so if you need anything at all I'm right here," he gestured at the door next to her own.

Buffy entered her room and noticed that it was somewhat plain and small. They had given her the basic necessities of a bed, dresser, and bathroom. She was going to have to engage in some serious redecorating if they expected her to live in this tiny room. As she stood in the doorway, she turned back to look at Hisagi just as her stomach let out a loud growl. Embarrassed, she blushed darkly and ran a hand through her hair.

Hisagi just laughed lightly at her, "I guess the next place I'll show you will be the mess hall then."

As the duo made their way to the mess hall, Buffy glanced curiously at a pair of shinigami walking just ahead of them. One of the shinigami was rather short and wearing a white coat with a strange symbol on it, much like her own captain had been wearing. He also had snowy white hair similar to her captain's. Buffy couldn't help but keep thinking that he looked like a little boy. She somehow knew, however, that if she made the mistake of addressing that thought to the person in question, it wouldn't end well for her. Call it instinct. The person next to him was a rather tall women with a rather ample bosom. Buffy watched as the woman swayed her strawberry blonde hair and flipped it over one shoulder as she whined in a high-pitch voice to her captain about never having any free time. The shorter of the duo practically growled at her in response and shouted something about how every day was free time for her because all she did was drink booze and go shopping. Buffy suddenly had a very strong feeling that she would get along well with the strawberry blonde.

"That's captain Hitsugaya and his Lieutenant Matsumoto of the tenth division," Hisagi breathed from her right as he followed her gaze, "Captain Hitsugaya is very hard working and his Lieutenant," he paused while struggling with his words, "Well not so much, but she's definitely fun to hang out with," he added with a smile.

"It's really going to take a while to remember all these names," Buffy muttered as she watched the duo disappear up ahead.

"You'll get the hang of it, eventually. For now, just focus on remembering my name...Hisagi," he added at her look, "And our captain's which is Kensei."

"Hisagi and Kensei...I think I can remember that," she said hopefully and followed him into the mess hall. Random shouts of greeting were thrown Hisagi's way and he waved and yelled back before leading Buffy over to a stack of trays and handing her one. As she took the tray from his hands, she began following him in filling up her tray with cutlery and various different foods. As they made their way over to a nearby table, Buffy could not help herself from digging into the food. She was starving. Hisagi flashed an amused smile in Buffy's direction as he, too, began to eat. They sat in silence for a few minutes, the only sound coming from the scraping of cutlery and the faint sounds of 'munching' before Buffy took a long gulp of her water and looked around the large cafeteria.

"So does everyone eat here, or just our squad?"

"Everyone is allowed to eat here, but there is another mess hall on the west side of soul society since soul society is so huge."

"So I'll meet a lot of other people from other squads?"

"Yes, definitely, you'll make a lot of new friends here, Buffy," Hisagi stated and flashed her a wide smile.

"I'm not so sure if I'm interested in making new friends," Buffy whispered under her breath and didn't dare to meet Hisagi's gaze. She didn't want to see any disappointment he held in his eyes at her admission.

"We consider the 13th squads to be like family, Buffy. We're the closest thing to a family that any of us have."

"I had a family...before I died...now I can never see them again. Is the idea of a new family here supposed to make me happy?" Buffy asked bitterly before shaking her head, "Forget I said anything. Can we just continue with the tour?"

Buffy looked up and watched as Hisagi nodded his head silently, all the while shooting her a curious glance, "Sure."

As the next few hours dragged on, Hisagi showed Buffy everything from the other divisions, to the various gate locations around soul society, and finally to the training grounds - which Buffy found out were opened 24/7, meaning she could let out any aggravation she felt about her situation at any time she deemed necessary. Well...as long as she wasn't engaged in other orders or practices from her captain. Buffy sighed in frustration. She didn't really follow authority very well so she wasn't sure how this whole captain and lieutenant thing would work out for her. If there ever came a situation where she didn't agree with her captain's decision, Buffy wasn't sure if she would be able to abide by the rules.

At the end of her tour, Hisagi dropped Buffy off at the 1st division's headquarters, where she was currently seated with her arms across her chest, waiting for that old man to return from wherever he had gone only moments before. She vaguely wondered if he had fallen asleep. She had heard stories from captains Kyoraku and Ukitake - whom she met earlier in the day - that that had actually happened to them when they were supposed to meet with the old man, so she didn't doubt the possibility of that happening now. Just as she was about to rise from her chair and go off to look for him, someone burst through the door behind her and started yelling at the old man that was nowhere in sight. Collecting himself for a moment, after realizing that the captain commander was not - in fact - present, the man with the short blonde hair and angled-cut bangs stopped in front of the chair Buffy was currently seated in and scrunched his eye brows together in momentary confusion.

"New recruit?" he asked as he settled a pile of papers at the edge of the desk in front of him.

"New recruit," she confirmed and was then presented with a long and slender hand. Grasping his hand in her own, Buffy couldn't help but feel overwhelmed as her spider senses went off skyrocketing into the night. She had had a similar experience when she met her captain earlier but she had ignored it then, and then she had become a little more concerned when she met with Rose - the captain of the 3rd division - and experienced the same feelings, but now she was on full blown alert as she sensed something unnatural and dark about the captain standing in front of her.

"Hirako, Shinji, captain of the fifth division, but you can just call me Shinji. I'm not a huge fan of formalities," he introduced himself before flashing her a wide grin.

"Buffy Summers, the new 3rd seat of the 9th division," she greeted in return, not really understanding the whole Japanese way of introducing herself by her last name.

"Oh, so you're in Kensei's division, eh? Well hopefully he won't give you too much trouble. He's known for being a little hot headed at times, but as long as you're not Mashiro, you'll probably stay on his good side."

"Hmmm, that's the second time I've heard that today. Mashiro must really be on a whole other level of annoying."

"You have no idea," Shinji said darkly, speaking from personal experience, "So where's old man Yama? I was hoping to catch him before wrapping up this long ass day."

"I have no idea. I heard he falls asleep a lot, so I'm not really hoping for the best," Buffy said and felt herself smiling at Shinji's sudden outburst of laughter.

"I guess that happens when you lead an army for 1000 plus years. Ya need a few cat naps here and there just to stay alive."

"That actually doesn't sound like too bad of a lifestyle right now. Minus, you know, the whole 'getting old' thing," Buffy commented and Shinji flashed her another wide smile.

"Yeah...well if he's not here then I guess I'll pester him about this tomorrow. It was nice meeting you Buffy. For your sake, I hope he comes along soon," Shinji said and then with a slight wave of his hand he - and his stack of papers - were gone.

Buffy smiled at the spot where the 5th division captain had been standing just a few seconds ago. She could already tell that she was going to be wonderful friends with captain Hirako. Just as she was wondering whether or not she should take his cue and leave as well, the captain commander finally emerged from his office, looking worn out and slightly agitated. As he cleared his throat and attempted to wipe any traces of annoyance from his demeanor, he took a seat across from her and shook her hand.

"Hello Miss Summers. As you know, I am the captain commander of soul society, Genryusai Yamamoto. I just wanted to call you in and meet with you so that we could go over the fine print of your service in our army," he said looking at her seriously.

Buffy suppressed the urge to roll her eyes. 'Fine Print' was basically a fancy way of saying, 'You better keep in line and not cause mayhem or there will be consequences'. Not that she could have, even if she wanted to. Being in a completely foreign place and having an unknown power residing within her only made her more cautious and fearful if anything. She wasn't about to go skipping through the streets of soul society and blowing random things up as she pleased. As far as Buffy was concerned, she was going to try and attract as little attention to herself as possible.

"I don't think you'll have anything to worry about captain commander. I'm really not interested in drawing any attention to myself and I don't trust anyone enough - yet," she added at his look, "to do anything out of line or bizarre. In short, I'll behave myself."

"That's all good and well, Miss Summers, but I also called you in here to talk to you more about your zanpakuto and bankai capabilities. I'm guessing you don't know the name of your zanpakuto yet," he added at her confused look.

"To be honest, I don't even know what a zanpakuto is," she replied genuinely.

"A zanpakuto is a shinigami's most powerful weapon. It is infused with spirit energy that comes from within a shinigami. Every shinigami eventually meets their zanpakuto and learns their zanpakuto's name. Some shinigami - after learning their zanpakuto's name - can even go on to perform 'bankai' which is a shinigami's most powerful attack. Usually only shinigami with captain level spiritual energy are able to use a bankai attack. Considering the power that you have, I won't be surprised if you are able to perform a bankai attack in time. Once you learn the name of your zanpakuto, I will have you engage in lessons with one of the captains so that you can learn your bankai attack and also so that you can control and develop your shikai attack."

As Buffy attempted to absorb all of that information, she only nodded her head in semi-understanding. She had a feeling that Yamamoto wasn't the type to really repeat himself, so she thought that asking him to repeat his big long speech would probably not be in her best interests. As Buffy listened to him babble on and on about rules and regulations within soul society, Buffy felt her eyelids begin to droop. It had been an extremely long day and the only thing she was even remotely looking forward to was crawling into her bed and sleeping the night away. She especially wanted to do this because she knew she had to be up at the ass crack of dawn in the morning in order to train one-on-two with Kensei and Hisagi before the other members of her division began their training later on. The idea was that Kensei and Hisagi would help her master her swordplay. Although she felt like she was already pretty good with her swordsmanship she wasn't going to turn down any extra training or any extra 'getting to know you' time with her superiors. The more she knew about the people she was going to be spending every waking moment with, the better.

"Alright Miss Summers. We are done here. You may return to your division," Yamamoto broke into her thoughts and Buffy practically leaped out the door.

As she returned to her room in her division, she eagerly crawled into her bed and let sleep wash over her. As soon as she closed her eyes however, she found that she had fallen into some kind of bizarre dream.

* * *

A/N: Sorry if anything felt rushed. I'm super impatient at times. ;oP


	2. Get Myself Back

**A/N:** Hey guys, just a little warning, the first scene from this chapter is a little graphic in terms of violence, so read at your own discretion.

Also thanks to Fanatic-FanGirl and LindseyXZ for the reviews! Hopefully I will be able to be pretty quick about updating, but I am starting a new job tomorrow so we will have to see if I can keep up this pace.

**LindseyXZ:** Thank you for the review! I could literally see Kensei and Buffy as a pairing too ;oP. I just think that somehow, they're perfect for each other, haha. The first chapter is definitely a bit rushed, but I tried to somewhat slow it down in the second chapter.

**Fanatic-FanGirl:** - thanks for the review! Ahhh, don't worry, Buffy is not going to be the next PTB, I don't think I cleared that up well enough, sorry! Would the fic that you're mentioning happen to be 'A Slayer Shinigami' by any chance? If so, I've read a lot of that story and I definitely enjoyed it too. :o)

[[**Some Chapter Details to Note**:]]

*Just in case you forgot your Buffy lore, Sineya is the actual name of the first original slayer.

*Also here is the translation of the spell at the end of the dream sequence (which happens to be the actual spell from the 7th season of Buffy as well):

We are heart.  
We are mind.  
We are spirit.  
From the raging storm  
We bring the power of the Primeval One.

*Finally, for a better idea of what Buffy's blade looks, think of Kadaj's blade from Final Fantasy Advent Children only with three parallel blades instead of two.

Here is a picture of that: images/images_big/Kadaj%

* * *

|| **Chapter Two:** Get Myself Back ||

* * *

Buffy found herself standing in the middle of a vast desert that was much too big for her tiny frame. Instead of being wildly confused as to where she was, however, she was struck with a sense of familiarity of the area. She had definitely been here before. In the past, when she dreamt, she dreamt of this place many times. It was the home of the original slayer, the very first slayer that had ever walked the earth and protected it from the forces of evil. As a hot wind whipped around Buffy's face she made her way deeper into the desert, all the while attempting to shield herself from the powerful winds. Suddenly Buffy stopped and fear penetrated her heart. If she was in the home of the original slayer then that could only mean one thing.

Whipping around, Buffy quickly snatched the wrist that was about to drive a sword deep into her back and attempted to snap it backwards. She found that she could not, however, and instead she was at a stale mate with her opponent. Snapping her foot out, she connected it with her opponents knee and forced her to stagger backwards. Buffy used the distraction to attempt to look for a weapon of some sort that she could use to her advantage. Seeing nothing, she sighed in frustration and grabbed a sharp looking rock off the floor of the desert and prepared for her opponent's next attack. Buffy narrowly dodged the blade as it sliced the air where her head had been only moments before. Attempting to move in closely without being pierced by the first slayer's blade was a difficult feat considering she only had a rock in her defense. Buffy hissed in sudden pain as her opponent's blade sliced a clean cut against the calf of her left leg. Blood poured out of the open wound and stained the sand red beneath them.

"What the hell," Buffy said out loud before flying onto her opponent and latching onto the first slayer's back in an attempt to grab her blade. As the first slayer attempted to shove Buffy off of her back, Buffy dug her nails into the base of the first slayer's throat and broke the skin underneath. Drawing blood, Buffy was not prepared for the retaliatory attack that consisted of the first slayer rearing her head backwards to meet Buffy's forehead in a painful collision. The attack had her opponent's desired result as Buffy was thrown haphazardly to the desert floor. Momentarily stunned, Buffy could only let out a strangled cry as the blade was thrust deep into her right shoulder blade and rotated clockwise to open the wound even more. As more of her blood stained the desert floor, Buffy grabbed at the hilt of the sword and attempted to remove it from within her shoulder blade with her left arm. Narrowing her eyes at Buffy, the first slayer kicked Buffy in the knee and caused her to simultaneously drop to the desert floor once more and force the blade deeper into her skin. Crying out again in pain, Buffy grit her teeth before taking her left thumb and stabbing it into the first slayer's right eye. Using as much strength as she could muster, Buffy heard a sickening 'popping' noise before blood started to pour forth from the damaged socket and rolled down her opponent's cheek. In the first slayer's moment of agony, Buffy was able to wrench the blade out of her shoulder blade, but not out of her opponent's hands.

Still gripping the blade in both of her hands, Buffy attempted to yank it out of the first slayer's hands but instead she was thrown through the air and landed several feet from the first slayer. Rolling several times, Buffy used her momentum to kick her feet into the air and bring herself back into a standing position. She had little time to ponder her next move before the first slayer was on her yet again. Taking the rock from where she had dropped it during her struggle, Buffy dropped underneath the blade aimed at her head and slammed the sharp tip of the rock into the first slayer's abdomen. Stumbling backwards, the first slayer slammed her hand into Buffy's mouth in a bizarre attempt to strangle her. Biting down on her fingers, Buffy all but spit the first slayer's fingers out of her mouth before she was seeing stars again as the hilt of the sword was brought against Buffy's temple. Staggering from the blow, Buffy slammed her elbow into the first slayer's jugular and was rewarded with the sword once again burying itself into Buffy, only this time into her stomach. Buffy started to choke as she spit up wave after wave of her own blood. Dropping to her knees, feeling weak, Buffy was lifted to the first slayer's eye level and then the first slayer leaned in closely to her ear.

"Weak," she spat before dropping Buffy onto the ground and kicking her in the rips repeatedly.

As Buffy spit up more and more of her blood she wondered if she would really die here, in her dreams. She had heard rumors that if you died in your dreams you also died in reality, but she didn't know if she truly believed that. As Buffy suffered through a haze of pain, her memories resurfaced and brought up images of previous encounters with the first slayer. Each one had been painful and had brought only pain to her and her friends. She had a sinking feeling that this current encounter with her bloodline could only mean the same. But what did the first slayer want this time? Why would she visit Buffy while Buffy was in a different time and place? Shock suddenly filled Buffy's eyes and she rolled out of the way of the first slayer's onslaught and sprang to her feet.

"Sineya, STOP!" she screamed and watched in surprise and amazement as the first slayer stopped her onslaught and flashed Buffy a smile. Tossing the red-and-silver blade her way, Buffy barely caught it before she looked at Sineya in confusion.

"You have not forgotten, slayer. You have earned your zanpakuto," Sineya stated as she moved towards Buffy.

Buffy took a step back cautiously until she realized that Sineya wasn't intending to hurt her. So was this what this pointless battle had been all about? Her zanpakuto? If that was the case, then Buffy thanked her lucky stars that she had somehow miraculously remembered Sineya's name and as a reward was able to receive her zanpakuto. But now what was she supposed to do? Sineya was looking at her as if she was supposed to initiate something, but all Buffy really wanted to do was sleep for a million years.

"I am your zanpakuto, slayer. When you release your blade in combat it will be me that aids you. You now know what it is that you must do," Sineya stated as she reached out a hand towards Buffy.

Buffy grasped Sineya's hand in her own before the duo began to speak in unison, "Sha me-en-den. Gesh-toog me-en-den. Zee me-en-den. Oo-khush-ta me-ool-lee-a ba-ab-tum-mu-de-en."

As the duo finished reciting their oath, the skies in the dessert crashed with the sound of thunder and lightning flashed across the skies. Rain poured in buckets from the skies and drenched both Buffy and Sineya. A glowing orb of energy formed in Sineya's hand and she stretched it outwards. As the glowing orb of energy hit Buffy in the chest, she felt overcome with a rush of power, as it started to fade away, Buffy felt herself succumbing to darkness, until finally she was completely out.

* * *

Snapping her eyes open and bolting up in her bed, Buffy was startled to see Hisagi standing in the doorway of her room and looking at her curiously. As Buffy maneuvered herself out from underneath her sheets, she was embarrassed to realize that she was only wearing a flimsy over-sized shirt. Covering herself back up with the sheets she looked back up at Hisagi with a questioning gaze.

"What are you doing in here?"

"I, uh, came to wake you up for breakfast before we trained with the captain, but I heard you shouting so I sort of barged in here. Sorry about that."

Buffy's eyes widened briefly, "Oh! Thanks. I'll be ready soon, sorry."

"That's okay. Are you alright? It seemed like you were having some pretty rough nightmares," Hisagi commented offhandedly.

"Oh, um, that...I learned the name of my zanpakuto!" she said excitedly and for emphasis she pulled her zanpakuto out from behind her nightstand and showed Hisagi how the blade had changed. The hilt of her zanpakuto was a crimson red and for the blade itself, there were three separate blades stemming from the zanpakuto's hilt that were directly parallel to each other. In the center of each blade was a blood red ruby that glimmered in the light coming from the window of Buffy's bedroom.

"Wow, cool! I haven't seen a blade like this before," Hisagi said as he admired Buffy's zanpakuto, "Congratulations on learning your zanpakuto's name. That will certainly make our practice this morning a lot easier. I'll be back in about 15 minutes and then we can head off to have some breakfast, okay?"

Buffy nodded and as soon as Hisagi left she leapt into the shower and quickly brushed her teeth and hair before changing into her robes. Just as she finished getting dressed, she heard a soft knock at her door. Opening the door, she once again greeted Hisagi and the duo made their way down to the mess hall for breakfast. As they settled in at the same table as the day before, they both snapped their attention to the entrance way of the mess hall as their captain emerged looking rather annoyed. Buffy and Hisagi stared at each other nervously before watching their captain stomp towards the buffet table start filling up his tray to excess. Buffy and Hisagi became even more nervous as Kensei sat down next to them with a thud and began shoveling food into his mouth.

"Everything okay, captain?" Hisagi asked hesitantly as he swallowed a bite of his bagel.

"Mashiro is in Soul Society visiting for the next two days," Kensei replied as if that answered all of the questions in the world.

"Oh," Buffy and Hisagi said simultaneously and continued eating in silence.

Seconds later, another figure came into the mess hall and Buffy could clearly see that it was the captain of the fifth division, Shinji Hirako. She noted that he, too, looked extremely annoyed and proceeded to act in much the same manner as her captain before he brought his tray over to their table and sat across from Kensei and next to Buffy.

"Is Hiyori here too?" Kensei questioned as he finished gulping his cup of coffee and rose to pour himself another.

"You bet," Shinji replied and bit angrily into the apple that he was holding.

"Well were you woken up to the sound of music and high-pitched singing this morning?" Kensei demanded as he returned to the table and nearly slammed his cup of coffee onto his food tray.

"No, but I was woken up to a sandled foot as it kicked me across my bedroom," Shinji countered before finishing his bowl of cereal.

"I really don't know why Rose keeps suggesting that they visit. All they do is bring misery and pain," Kensei grunted while peeling the wrapping paper off of his blueberry muffin.

"He only invites them here because he can't get anyone else to listen to his damn compositions," Shinji muttered agitatedly.

"If that's the reason, then I'll personally send Hisagi over to listen to him play the guitar for a few hours."

"That's not happening," Hisagi stated firmly and both Shinji and Kensei laughed.

"What about you Buffy? Care to go and listen to a flashy musician play the guitar for a while?" Shinji asked her and Buffy nearly choked on the piece of toast that she was chewing on.

"I think I'll pass," she said flashing a smile in his direction.

"So what are your plans for the day? I've got a mountain of paperwork that I would love to be distracted from," Shinji commented as he straightened his tie and glanced over at Kensei.

"After breakfast Hisagi and I are taking Summers out to train for a bit and then the rest of the division is continuing kido training after that."

"So basically not much in the way of excitement, no offense," he added looking over at Buffy, "I'm sure your training will be a lot of fun."

"No offense taken. I don't think training is really enjoyable for anyone," Buffy replied as she finished off her water.

"Hmmm, it almost makes me wish Ichigo was here. Whenever that kid is around, something exciting happens." Shinji mused as he lazily looked around the room.

"Whenever that kid is around, someone usually gets hurt or dies too," Kensei said seriously.

"Not like it's his fault, ya know? He just happens to get involved in our costlier battles," Shinji said darkly while waving his hand through the air, "Anyway, I should get going, as much as I love the thought of Hinamori doing all of the paperwork, I could never do that to her."

The three men looked at each other as an understanding look passed between them. Hinamori had obviously gone through something that they all felt guilty about, but what, Buffy had no idea. Watching as Shinji left, Buffy couldn't help but let a frown pull at her lips. Even when the fifth division captain was annoyed, Buffy felt an overwhelming sense of optimistic energy from him, and it brightened her mood considerably. She could only hope that she would see him around at some point in the future. As she finished her meal, Buffy followed her captain and lieutenant out to the training grounds and waited for further instruction.

"Alright, we're going to go over some basic swordplay, which I'm sure you'll pick up easily, so after we get the basics down, we'll move on to more complex swordplay. Try not to use your full strength, Buffy, or I have a feeling Hisagi and I will end up in the 4th division by lunchtime."

Buffy blushed slightly at her captain's warning , "I'll try not to, captain."

As she moved into position, she got ready to duel Hisagi. According to Kensei's instructions, she would duel Hisagi during the basic swordplay and then Kensei himself during the more complex swordplay. As she and Hisagi danced around each other, clashing swords and defending blows, she tried to listen carefully to Kensei's critiques and apply them in her techniques. After about 20-30 minutes of swordplay, Kensei stopped the duo and praised Buffy for learning so quickly.

"Alright now we'll settle into some more complex moves. Hisagi, would you mind overseeing the kido training of the other division members?"

"Not at all, captain," Hisagi replied and flash-stepped away. Buffy was dying to eventually try that herself because it looked like so much fun.

"Alright Buffy. I remember you saying something at breakfast about you learning your zanpakuto's name," at her nod Kensei continued, "Good, then we can start to use your special shikai attack and hone it so that you can use it flawlessly in battle."

"I'm not even sure how to use it though," Buffy said with a shake of her head.

"That's okay. It'll take a little while to get used to, but I'm going to help you learn how to use it. What is your zanpakuto's name?"

"Sineya."

"Alright, now I need you to concentrate and focus. Your zanpakuto should have left you with something in your inner world that will allow you to use your shikai's attack properly."

Buffy closed her eyes momentarily and thought about it. Did Sineya leave her with something that she could use in the heat of the battle? Something other than several open wounds and a lot of mayhem? As Buffy thought about it some more, she remembered that Sineya had hit her with a strange, but powerful glow before she had left her 'inner world' as Kensei had called it. Reaching within herself, Buffy tried to feel if she could sense that power that Sineya had left within her. As she searched her power, Buffy finally connected with something and as her eyes flew open, she unsheathed her zanpakuto and pointed it at Kensei.

"Light the storm, Sineya!" Buffy shouted and whipped her zanpakuto out in front of her. As both she and Kensei watched in amazement, her zanpakuto send out a chain of lightning that sizzled and scorched everything in its path. As the lightning seeped into the ground - and nearly struck Kensei in the process - the ground started to shake and fissures appeared where the duo stood that released huge bolts of energy that would have blasted Kensei out of the training grounds if he had not blocked it with his own tachikaze's wind manipulation abilities. As he stumbled backwards after the force of the attack, Kensei leaned against the tree behind him and took in a few heavy breaths.

"That was good," Kensei stated in between gasps for air, "A little 'too' good," he added and Buffy winced apologetically.

"Should we call it a day then, captain?" Buffy asked as she re-sheathed her zanpakuto.

"No, we still need to hone your shikai's ability so that you can manipulate its technique to your will. Eventually, that full attack could easily be cut short if you just want to use part of it," at her confused look he continued, "For example, if you just want to use that chain lightning attack in dueling with your enemies and not shake the earth beneath them, that will be possible after further training."

After nodding in understanding, Kensei and Buffy trained for a few more hours until Kensei could easily tell that Buffy was becoming exhausted. He decided that he would end their training there for the day, especially since in her most recent attack, Buffy had managed to not make the earth shake beneath them. It was also lunch time, and Buffy's stomach was begging to be nourished. As she waved 'bye' to him, Buffy made her way into the mess hall and searched around for anyone she knew. Unfortunately for her, neither Hisagi nor Shinji were in the mess hall and her own captain had a meeting with Yamamoto so he was unable to dine with her. Looking around once again, Buffy finally spotted the woman with the strawberry blonde hair and huge boobs from the day before sitting across from an emo-looking guy with pale blonde hair that hung to completely cover the left side of his face.

Making her way over to the table, Buffy placed her tray next to the emo-looking backstreet boy, "Hey guys, would you mind if I joined you for lunch? I'm a new recruit for the 9th division and I don't know that many people here yet."

The strawberry blonde smiled widely up at her, "Of course you can! My name is Matsumoto Rangiku, I'm the lieutenant of the 10th squad. My friend over here is Izuru Kira, the lieutenant of the 3rd squad."

"Hi, it's nice to meet you, my name is Buffy Summers and I'm the 3rd seat in the 9th division," she replied as she shook both of their hands and sat down next to Kira.

"So Buffy, how do you like the 9th division? It can't be all that bad considering how attractive Kensei is," Rangiku breathed dreamily and smiled at her.

Buffy turned a little red in the cheeks at that. She definitely agreed with Rangiku that Kensei was extremely attractive, but at the same time, she wasn't attracted to him, "Yeah he's definitely nice eye candy for sure. I actually really like the 9th division, they've been really welcoming and have been helping me train a lot, so I can't complain."

Kira made a face at the girls' discussion of Kensei's hotness factor, "Training is definitely important, just make sure not to strain yourself. Some people in soul society get their egos inflated after they've trained for a while and think that they can take on anyone."

As if to make his point, Kira glared over at a table to Buffy's right, where the source of the majority of the noise in the mess hall was stemming from. Seated at the table was an intimidating man with broad shoulders that towered over his companions. He had black spiky hair that stuck out at all ends, and attached to the ends were tiny bells that made a soft 'ringing' sound every time he turned his head. Adding to the intimidation factor was the fact that he was also wearing an eye patch and had several scars adorning his face and chest. Buffy could also see that he was wearing a captain's coat, meaning he had to be packing some serious power.

"Who is that?" Buffy questioned softly of her companions.

"Captain Zaraki Kenpachi of the 11th division. If you know what's best for you, you'll stay far away from the 11th division. They're all a bunch of blood thirsty idiots that want nothing more than a good fight," Kira said and rolled his eyes.

"Oh Kira, be nice," Rangiku scolded as she quickly produced a flask from within her robes and poured its contents into her glass. Tipping the flask against Buffy's glass, Rangiku silently asked her if she wanted some. Nodding her head 'yes', a little too eagerly, Rangiku smiled again at her.

"Buffy, I think we're going to be very good friends," she stated as she placed a hand lightly on Buffy's arm and then her eyes lit up in excitement, "Oh! You have to come shopping with me tomorrow, they have the cutest clothes and the best make up at this little boutique just outside of soul society," Rangiku rambled on and Buffy laughed and agreed that she would come with her.

Taking a sip of the bitter liquid, Buffy initially cringed before the burning liquid passed down her throat and into her stomach, where she instantly felt warm and...amazing. As Kira tipped his empty glass forward, towards Matsumoto, she once again served whatever alcohol was in her flask to the fair boy next to her. Pretty soon, all three of the shinigamis were starting to feel a little warm and happy.

"You know, Buffy, you should come to the bars with Kira, Hisagi, and me on Fridays. We always have the best times and I could use a female friend so there's not too much testosterone in the room," she added and Kira put a hand over his liver and winced at the memories.

"Sounds like fun! Count me in!" Buffy said excitedly and Rangiku practically beamed.

"So what are your plans for the rest of the day?" Rangiku asked excitedly.

"It doesn't matter," came a low voice as an icy spiritual energy invaded the trio's gathering.

Rangiku's eyes widened with fear as her tiny captain made his presence known, "You are doing the paperwork that you've neglected to do all week," the 10th division's captain stated as he crossed his arms over his chest.

"But captain," Rangiku whined, "I've worked so hard today!"

"MATSUMOTO!" Hitsugaya roared and Rangiku flash-stepped away, with Toshiro following after her and yelling all the while.

As soon as the duo disappeared, an awkward silence fell between Buffy and Kira, as it was obvious that Rangiku was the best at facilitating their conversation. After a few minutes of awkward silence, Kira excused himself to return to his division and Buffy rotated the still-full glass of alcohol in her hands. As she looked around the room, she spotted Shinji as he entered the mess hall, looking even worse for wear than he had this morning. Spotting her instantly, Shinji gave a little wave and a smile as he made his way over to the table and sat down across from her.

"Eating alone?" he asked as he set down a folder next to him and straightened out his robes.

"I did have people, but one of them got in trouble with her captain and the other awkwardly left just a few seconds ago," she replied and set the glass down in front of her with a small smile.

"Ahh, I see. So, have ya been drinkin'?" he questioned with a full-blown grin and Buffy flushed with embarrassment, "Don't worry, I'm not about to report you, and even if I did, Kensei would probably be proud of you rather than mad."

At her sigh of relief he continued, "But if you're done with that glass, do you mind if I finish it? I've had a miniature blonde up my ass all day and I could probably use it."

"Go for it," Buffy nodded and watched as the 5th division captain downed the glass in one gulp.

"Hmmm, sake," he said appreciatively, "I'm guessing you had lunch with Matsumoto?"

Buffy nodded, "Yeah, how'd you know?"

"Please, the woman is a walking liquor store. I'm surprised you didn't get tipsy just from sitting next to her."

"That would be an interesting zanpakuto ability," Buffy commented and caused Shinji to laugh lightly.

"Well it's good that you're making friends. The alternative is an ugly one," Shinji commented before standing to get his own plate of food.

When he returned, Buffy was tempted to ask him about the uneasy spiritual energy she sensed from both himself and Kensei, but she refrained, afraid that it might upset him or that she wasn't supposed to know in general. She watched with mild interest as he flipped through the folder next to him while simultaneously scooping some ramen noodles into his mouth. Allowing her gaze to travel around the room for a minute, Buffy spotted the 13th and 8th division captains eating together at a table in the corner of the room. As she brushed a few strands of her hair behind her ear she suddenly sighed, catching the attention of her companion.

"Sorry if I'm boring you. I can sing or dance, if you want," Shinji said with a slight smirk on his lips.

"As much as I'd love to see that, it's completely not you," Buffy said with a small smile, "It's just kind of boring here, is all."

"Hmm, yeah, in between battles it can get pretty boring here. Some of the women like to join the Shinigami Women's Association for fun, but I would personally recommend the spas and bars around soul society if you're looking for some R&R," Shinji commented.

"Spas and Bars, two of my favorite things," Buffy said with a laugh.

"Mine too...when I'm not stuck with paperwork," Shinji quipped and opened the folder next to him once more for emphasis.

"Will you be at the bars this Friday?" Buffy asked hopefully as she remembered her little outing with Matsumoto and Izuru that was just on the horizon.

"There's always a strong possibility that I will be," Shinji replied as a smile graced his features.

"Maybe I'll see you at one of them," Buffy countered as she stood from the table and prepared to head back to her division.

"Yeah, definitely," Shinji responded before saying goodbye to her and returning to his paperwork.

* * *

"I saw that," Matsumoto accused Buffy as soon as she left the mess hall.

"Saw what?" she asked, genuinely curious.

"You flirting with Captain Hirako. It's so obvious that you like him. Not that I can blame you, he is extremely charming," Matsumoto slurred as she took another swig from her flask.

"What? I think you've been drinking too much. I definitely was not flirting with Captain Hirako. He just happened to eat lunch with me because he saw that I was alone after you two abandoned me," Buffy said with a pointed glare.

"Kira left too? I'm sorry Buffy, he's not really a social butterfly by any means," Matsumoto responded, straying from the previous subject, much to Buffy's relief.

"Yeah, I'm not gonna lie, he looked kind of emo-ish," Buffy stated and Matsumoto burst out in laughter.

"He definitely does give off that image, doesn't he?" at Buffy's nod, Matsumoto only laughed further before grasping Buffy's arm in her own and dragging her away from the mess hall.

"Let's go to the spa! You don't have anything left to do today, right?" Matsumoto demanded before dragging Buffy in what was presumably the direction to the spas.

"Actually, I have to check in with my captain. I promised him I would earlier," Buffy stated and watched as Matsumoto's face crumbled.

"But I don't want to go back to my division...my captain will kill me when he sees me like this," Matsumoto pouted.

Buffy just shrugged helplessly as she watched her newly acquired friend heave a heavy sigh before she flash-stepped away. Buffy turned and headed back towards her division and was about to reach her captain's office when a bone-chilling laugh made the hair on the back of her neck stand straight up. Turning around, Buffy was face to face with what appeared to be an evil clown. As she took a step back, considering the clown was just inches from her face, she stumbled over a rock and would have fallen if not for the railing that was nearby that she latched onto. Steadying herself she looked back at the heavily face-painted man who was wearing a captain's coat.

"What are you?" Mayuri questioned abruptly as he eyed Buffy up and down in a disdained manner.

"Capricorn on the cusp of Aquarius, you?" Buffy snapped at him, remembering the same words she had said to Riley all those years ago when he had asked the same question about her.

"Don't play games with me. I know you were recruited for a reason," clown-face threatened while gesturing at her with a set of long black nails.

"Many potential shinigami are recruited from Rukongai with the intention of joining the ranks of Soul Society's army," Buffy responded in the manner that the captain commander had taught her.

"Many potential shinigami that are recruited do not obtain the rank of 3rd seat on their first day within a division," the man snarled at her, and Buffy could practically see the spit flying from his mouth.

"I trained every day while I was in Rukongai so that I could obtain a high position once the Soul Society accepted me into its ranks," Buffy recited her script flawlessly and was met with the sight of the clown man making a tight fist and shaking it at her.

"I'll find out what you are...and when I do, I'll tear you apart," Mayuri threatened before disappearing around the corner of her division and out of sight.

"What was that bastard doing here?" Buffy heard her captain snap as the door to his office flung open with a resounding 'smack'. Behind him, barely visible because of Kensei's towering stature, was a tiny woman with short green hair. Buffy could only assume that this was the legendary 'Mashiro' that everyone had warned her about.

"He was just being overly nosy about my presence in your division," Buffy replied as Kensei looked like he was about to explode.

"He has no fucking right to waltz into my division whenever the fuck he wants and ask dumbass questions of MY division members!" Kensei growled and then was further inflamed as the green haired woman kicked him out of the door and placed two hands on her hips.

"Oooohhhhh we're in trouble now, Kensei's mad. Is the big fluffy idiot going to go after the stupid clown?" Mashiro mocked as she made pouty lips at the man who was currently collecting himself off of the ground.

"Shut the hell up Mashiro! Aren't you supposed to be meeting with Rose?" Kensei snarled in her direction.

"Kenseeeeiiiiiii, are you mad at me?" she asked batting her eyelashes at him, "Rose is having tea with Ukitake, I don't like tea," she whined and Buffy noticed that a vein was visibly popping out in her captain's forehead.

"There's chocolate cake and candy in the mess hall on the west side of soul society. I hope it doesn't go before I can get over there and have some," Buffy commented offhandedly.

Mashiro's eyes lit up like a firecracker, "Bye Kensei, have fun with your stupid paper work," she shrieked as she flash-stepped away.

"That should keep her busy for a little while at least," Buffy grinned and watched as Kensei flashed her a smile of relief.

"Thanks. Why don't you come into my office and we can talk about Mayuri."

Buffy obediently followed Kensei into his office and waited until he shut the door and settled himself behind his desk. Following suit, she plopped herself into the chair across from him and made herself relatively comfortable.

"What did he say to you exactly?" Kensei began and he folded his hands on top of his desk.

"He wanted to know what I was and then I basically gave him the captain commander's standard answer to that question and he said he didn't believe me, and that he would find out what I was, and then rip me apart, as he so kindly put it."

A dark look passed over Kensei's features at her admission, "That bastard. Keep away from him as much as you can. I'll speak with Yama-jii about this as soon as possible. I wouldn't worry too much though, because I doubt he'd be much of a match for you if it ever came down to it," he paused and Buffy could tell he was musing about what a fight between the two would look like, "None-the-less, you should be on your guard anyway. Mayuri is nothing if not an unstable shinigami."

"And yet he's a captain," Buffy commented nonchalantly.

"Yeah...definitely not my decision," Kensei responded and sighed, "Alright, well, you're pretty much free for the rest of the day. I would suggest you get acquainted with the rest of the division members so you know who you're fighting with."

Buffy nodded before thanking him and leaving his office. As she made her way towards the training grounds, where she knew the rest of her division would be, she stopped dead in her tracks at the sound of an ear-shattering scream coming from the direction of the mess hall. Running quickly towards the sound, she was stunned to see her captain race past her in a blur of motion. As she reached her destination, she was overwhelmed by the crowd that had already gathered in the mess hall. Attempting to squeeze past them to see what had happened, Buffy noticed that they were not looking ahead. Instead, she saw that they all had their necks craned towards the ceiling.

Looking up, Buffy saw the body of an unknown shinigami swinging from the chandelier above with a rope wrapped tightly around her tiny throat, obviously dead.

* * *

**A/N**: Please let me know if you spotted any bizarre areas of font weirdness in this chapter, lol. The transfer over from my world document was a little rough.


	3. Go Round

**A/N:** Hey guys! Another new chapter! :o)

**LindseyXZ**: The KenseixBuffy relationship will develop somewhat slowly (but not too slowly!), because I want to make sure that certain events happen before they explore their relationship and what not. ^^" I will definitely keep your suggestions in mind for them concerning training and their relationship though. :O) I'm glad that you are enjoying the fic!

**Fanatic-FanGirl**: There will definitely be a Kenpachi fight scene in the story! ;OP Not in this chapter, but soon! And yes, I have definitely read "The Lone Flower" now that you mention it. It's really well written :o) and I enjoyed it. Unfortunately, I'm not sure how to delete reviews, but I'll look! Haha. I hope you continue to enjoy the story!

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||Chapter 3: Go Round||

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"Alright, get the hell out of here and return to your respective squads," Buffy distinctly heard Shinji's voice rise above the crowd that refused to budge.

"NOW!" he shouted and Buffy watched as they crowd instantly dispersed from the area. Not wanting to leave the scene just yet, Buffy stepped outside of the mess hall and pressed her back against the outside wall of the building so that she could at least snoop in on their conversation. Peering carefully around the corner, Buffy noticed that at least 6 of soul society's captains were currently debating as to who would take the girl down. It was a gruesome sight for sure, but one that Buffy had seen before in her days as a slayer. She still remembered how she felt when she discovered Chloe's body hanging in her hallway closet. Suicide was almost more haunting to her than the various murders that she had witnessed or discovered during her lifetime.

Eventually, after some further reluctance from the captains, Buffy watched as the 11th division captain rolled his eyes at the others before standing on one of the mess hall's tables and cutting the girl down with his zanpakuto. She also watched as he gingerly placed the girl's corpse on top of the table and another captain with dark black hair that was settled into a long braid down her back walked over to the table and began to examine her body.

"Fuck!" Buffy could hear someone shout from behind her before a loud crashing sound resounded throughout the mess hall and a blur shot past her and into the distance.

"Why did Rose leave?" she could hear her captain ask.

"She was one of his," Shinji replied in a low voice that Buffy barely caught.

"Captains, I would ask that you all return to your divisions and speak with your members about the situation while I have the fourth division take care of this," Buffy heard a gentle voice command from behind her.

Darting quickly around the building so that she was hidden behind the bushes on the side, Buffy watched as the captains spilled out of the mess hall and walked off to their respective divisions. Several minutes later, she watched as the female captain also left the mess hall, presumably to gather a team of her division members to take the body back for burial. Buffy quickly slipped into the mess hall, careful not to be noticed, and made her way over to the girl's body that was currently covered with a table cloth. Removing the table cloth from the girl's body, Buffy noticed that the girl's skin was extremely blue for someone that had only hung herself this past afternoon. Further exploration led Buffy to discover that certain parts of the girl's body were already decayed, leading her to conclude that the girl had definitely been murdered, rather than had committed suicide. Checking her neck again, Buffy was frustrated to find that there were no signs of strangulation or bite marks. There was definitely a mark from the rope, but she could tell that the mark was a recent one and not one that had been there from a prior strangulation by the dark purple color of the bruise. Raising her eyebrows curiously, Buffy wondered if there were bite marks anywhere else. She knew that the neck was not the 'only' pulse point on a person's body. Checking the girl's left wrist, Buffy found nothing, but turning over the girl's right wrist told a different story. There, on the center of the girl's wrist, were two perfect puncture marks marring her skin. 'Bingo' thought Buffy with a small amount of satisfaction that was quickly overshadowed by the morbid realization that she had gotten satisfaction out of discovering the girl's true cause of death. Dropping the girl's wrist and re-covering her body with the table cloth, Buffy hurriedly made her way out of the dining hall and ran back to her division. Knocking on the door to Kensei's office, Buffy frowned as she realized he was not currently inside.

"He's delivering the news of the girl's suicide to the rest of the division," Buffy heard Hisagi's voice state from behind her.

Turning around to face him, he continued, "Is there anything I can help you with Buffy?"

"Hisagi, the girl's death wasn't a suicide," Buffy revealed and watched as Hisagi's eyes widened with her revelation.

"What? Of course it was Buffy! The majority of us saw her hanging there, clear as day."

"I know, but it was staged to 'look' like a suicide, in reality she was murdered."

"You're making some wild accusations. What proof do you even have?" he asked her as he moved closer towards her.

"Two bite marks and a body that was obviously drained of blood. This was clearly a vampire attack," at his disbelieving look, she continued, "I used to be a vampire slayer, remember? Let's not doubt my credentials all at once."

Sighing loudly, Hisagi relented somewhat, "Let's say you're right," he ignored her interruption of 'I am right' and continued, "How do you explain vampires being in the midst of soul society without any of us knowing? And why would a vampire stage a suicide to protect itself? From all the myths I've read about them, they aren't exactly secretive about who they attack."

Buffy stopped to think about this. He had a point, and a really good one at that. For his first question, the only thing that she could think of was that vampires probably didn't register on the shinigami's radar because they didn't have souls, and shinigami were only adept at sensing spiritual pressure. Telling him as much, Hisagi nodded in understanding and seated himself on one of the steps leading up to Kensei's office. Plopping herself down next to him, Buffy continued with her thought process.

"The vampire may have been working for someone else. Someone to whom it would be a very bad thing if his or her presence was known in Soul Society," Buffy suggested.

"And draining one of the division member's body of blood would be a very big tip off in alerting our divisions to the presence of a possible threat within soul society, which would necessitate the staging of a suicide," Hisagi finished as both he and Buffy stared at each other in horrified realization.

"We need to alert the captain immediately. Wait in his office and I'll go grab him," Hisagi said suddenly as he rushed off.

Buffy walked into her captain's quarters before plopping down in the same chair that she had been sitting in not even a half hour before, "Everyone always acts sooo surprised the minute I'm right about something," Buffy muttered to herself as she waited for the arrival of her captain and lieutenant.

Two seconds later, the duo she had been waiting on appeared in the office. Kensei took a seat behind his desk once again and Hisagi plopped himself down into the chair on Buffy's left. At Kensei's insistence, Buffy recounted her story again to her captain and then Buffy and Hisagi both revealed their reasoning behind whoever had staged the suicide. Watching as Kensei's eyes flickered between shock, confusion, and concern during Buffy's story, he abruptly stood up as they finished talking and grabbed his water bottle from his desk.

"Sorry to make you repeat yourself a third time, Buffy, but the three of us are going to have to report to the captain commander immediately."

Watching as her captain and lieutenant flash-stepped away, Buffy became panicked, "NOT FAIR!" she screeched at the empty office before adding in a low voice, "I don't know how to do that!"

Closing her eyes, so she wouldn't be late, Buffy focused her energy and tried to think of how she could flash-step as well. Opening her eyes, she pushed her power forward and took a step forward and successfully flash-stepped to the bottom of the hill leading up to the first division. Grinning triumphantly, she flash-stepped the rest of the way to the 1st division's quarters to see her captain, vice-captain, and the captain commander all waiting patiently for her to arrive. Her captain was giving her an aggravated glare that clearly read 'What took you so damn long?'. Buffy just shrugged her shoulders before sitting in the empty chair between her captain and vice-captain and recounting her story for a third time to the captain commander.

"Vampires," the captain commander spoke after she finished her story, "In soul society? This is certainly new," he finished quietly.

For a few minutes, the four sat in silence as they waited for the captain commander to speak again, "We will have to hold a captain's meeting immediately. Also, Hisagi, if you could gather the lieutenants and relay this information to them, I would be grateful. Notify the lieutenants to wait for further instruction as well. I will send notice through one of the hell butterflies after the captain's meeting."

Hisagi nodded and quickly flash-stepped away as the captain commander sighed deeply, "Miss Summers, it looks like we will have to reveal the truth about you to the rest of the captains sooner than we thought. We have no choice considering the attacker was a vampire and the majority of our captains believe them to be a myth."

Buffy nodded her head in understanding and was about to speak when her own captain beat her to the punch, "Captain commander, there is one pressing issue with your decision. Captain Kurotsuchi of the 12th division has threatened my 3rd seat's safety in his pointless quest to discover what she really is."

"I will take care of that," the captain commander stated simply and then turned towards Buffy.

"You may return to your room Buffy. I suggest you get some rest as we will have to conduct an investigation in the morning and may need to use your talents."

"No can do, captain commander," Buffy replied and watched as both men looked at her in surprise, "Vampires thrive on the night life. They don't like sitting out in the sun too much considering, you know, it turns them to ash."

The captain commander shook his head, "Of course. Alright Miss Summers, well then we will need you immediately after the captain's meeting after all."

"Maybe she should attend the meeting," Kensei suggested, "She knows what we're supposed to be tracking better than anyone, she could probably help the captains by telling them exactly what to look for."

"True," the captain commander agreed with a nod of his head, "Alright, well then you two may proceed to the meeting hall and I will gather the captains here."

As Kensei led Buffy out of the captain commander's office, she couldn't help but notice that the captain commander had produced some sort of black butterfly and was whispering into it before it flew off into the night. Strange. Walking alongside Kensei, the duo arrived in a huge hall where Kensei immediately stood off to the side on the left . Buffy stood next to him and waited as she watched the rest of the captains filing in, in a blur of motion. All of them were glancing at her curiously, wondering why she was here, in the middle of a captain's meeting. Their questions were about to be answered shortly, however, as the captain commander arrived in the room and a hushed silence fell over the group. Buffy looked around at the captains once more and her gaze locked with Shinji's briefly. He shot her a questioning glance, and she just gave him a small smile in return.

"We have an urgent threat that needs to be taken care of," the captain commander started and then turned to Buffy, "Please tell the captains of your discovery, Miss Summers."

As Buffy recounted her story for the fourth time that day, she finished to the sound of loud whispers and questions being flung at both herself and the captain commander. At the sudden onslaught of noise, the captain commander brought his staff down to the ground and banged it repeatedly, "Silence!" he proclaimed and Buffy watched as the group fell into silence once more. After they were focused, the captain commander began to tell the captains exactly where Buffy came from and what her duties were prior to becoming a shinigami in the 9th division. Buffy watched as the 12th division captain folded his arms over his chest with a satisfied smirk and proclaimed, "I knew it," to the rest of the group.

"And you will not be performing experiments on Miss Summers, unless you want to make a return visit to the Maggot's Nest," Yamamoto shot in Mayuri's direction and Buffy watched as he simultaneously grew paler while looking extremely pissed. Buffy flashed a satisfied smile his way and watched as he grit his teeth together before sneering at her. As Yamamoto watched the exchange, he banged his staff on the floor once again before shouting, "That's enough," and both parties stood still and attentive as they waited for their leader to speak once more.

"I will need three captains to accompany Miss Summers on a sweep of the surrounding area of Soul Society - not you Mayuri," he interrupted himself as he watched the 12th division captain get ready to suggest himself, "And search for this vampire. The sooner we find the vampire, the better, as we may be able to track it back to its leader," the captain commander looked around the room before finishing, "I have decided that the captains of the 5th, 6th, and 9th divisions will accompany Miss Summers in her patrol."

Buffy watched as the captain of the 3rd division moved forward in protest of the decision but Yamamoto waved him off before he could speak, "You are too emotionally invested in this, Rose, and my decision is final," with that he started to move forward, "You may all depart now. Captains, please give me a report of what happens on your patrol after you are finished," he added as he looked at the three remaining captains in the room.

"Alright then, let's get this party started!" Buffy said excitedly as she looked back at the three captains.

Shinji and Kensei smiled at her in amusement as the 6th division captain merely nodded his head without smiling and the trio followed the petite blonde out of the 1st division quarters. Arriving at the outside border to soul society, Buffy peered into the darkness before her in the thick forest ahead and closed her eyes momentarily. Stretching her senses outward, she could distinctly sense the presence of multiple vampires from somewhere within the forest. Snapping her eyes open, Buffy scanned the surrounding area, spotting a nearby bench and made her way over to it. Raising her foot, Buffy slammed it into the bench as if it offended her and watched as the wood splintered and cracked easily. Snatching up a couple of make-shift stakes, Buffy tossed them to the three captains, who were looking at her as if she was insane.

"Vampires die via a stake to the heart or decapitation, swords are only useful if you can manage to decapitate the vamp, but in some instances the range of fighting doesn't allow for easy decapitation so we're probably better off with stakes."

At her explanation, Kensei nodded and tossed one of the stakes around in his hands, "Through the heart?" he questioned again and Buffy nodded.

'But chances are, I'll have an easier time taking them out than you will,' Buffy added mentally as she turned and made her way into the forest. Hearing footsteps and a hushed conversation between Shinji and Kensei behind her, Buffy silently hoped that the trio would not end up becoming a liability. She knew that the three captains were strong - their positions basically screamed as much - but she wasn't sure what level of strength their opponents would be at. For all Buffy knew, the vamps could be the standard run-of-the-mill vampires or uber vamps, in which case, it would be a little bit of a struggle for the four of them to face off against them.

"How much further?" she heard the 6th division captain, Byakuya Kuchiki, question loudly in mild annoyance.

"Well if you keep speaking at that volume, probably not much further at all considering they'll find us before we find them," Buffy snapped back in a hushed whisper and continued into the forest while hearing a snort of laughter coming from both Kensei and Shinji.

"There are four of them," Buffy said suddenly, speaking to the group behind her, "Remember to leave one alive so we can question it."

As Buffy crept up further, she hid behind a cluster of trees with her company and peered around the thick branches to spot four vampires in the clearing up ahead. What she hadn't counted on was the fact that a shinigami would be with them. Buffy watched as a small female shinigami squealed in terror as the vampire currently holding her was about to sink its teeth into the soft flesh of her neck.

"Stop it. If you eat her, the boss will have to cover up the body again and you'll be just as dead as Miko is," a vampire said to the left of the one currently holding the shinigami.

"If we don't eat her, she'll run back to soul society and tell others about what she discovered here," the vampire countered.

"What 'did' she discover here?" Buffy stated as she stepped out into the clearing and motioned behind her back for the others to hold their positions.

"Slayer," the vampire holding the girl stated as he roughly pushed the girl onto the ground and moved towards Buffy.

"Slayee," she replied before side-stepping a kick that was clearly aimed at her head. Buffy whirled around and caught the wrist of the same vampire as he attempted to punch her in the face. It was a struggle, however, because the vampire was absurdly strong. Buffy let out a small gasp as she lost the struggle with the vampire and he landed a solid blow across the left side of her face. Dropping to the ground and rolling with the punch, Buffy sprang to her feet just in time to receive a massive blow to her stomach that completely winded her. Gasping for air, Buffy landed a roundhouse kick to the head of the vampire on her right, sending him flying a few feet. Okay, so they were hard to beat, but not impossible to beat, she noted. As she received an elbow to the ribs, Buffy heard a sickening 'crunch' and then turned towards the cluster of trees where her companions were.

"Back-up would be greatly appreciated now," she called and watched as Shinji and Kensei sprung into the area, with Byakuya following behind them at a slower and more hesitant pace.

Wheezing in pain from her broken rib, Buffy watched as Kensei stabbed the vampire in front of her in the leg as the vampire lunged toward Buffy. As Buffy shot her captain a silent nod of thanks, she regained her fighting stance and landed a solid kick to the tail-bone of one of two vampires that were currently flanking Shinji on either side. She then flipped herself backwards to create more distance between her and another vamp that was getting a little too fangy-happy in her opinion. Dodging a punch to her face, Buffy grabbed the vampire's arm and flipped him onto his back before she drove her stake through his heart, turning him into a pile of ash. She smiled as she heard Shinji mutter something about 'soul society's opponents not having as easy a cleanup as vampires' before she helped the fallen shinigami girl to her feet. Byakuya immediately recognized the girl as one from his division and he called to her and gave her further instructions as Buffy and the others continued to pummel the vampires. She watched out of the corner of her eye as the girl disappeared and Byakuya was roughly kicked to the ground by a vampire.

Standing up, clearly furious, Byakuya whipped out his zanpakuto, "Scatter, Senbonzakura."

Buffy watched as Byakuya's zanpakuto turned into a bunch of cherry blossoms that surrounded the vampire that had attacked him. Curious as to what would happen, she watched as the cherry blossoms settled over the vampire, and in an instant, his head rolled off his shoulders and he turned to dust. Buffy couldn't help as a peal of laughter escaped her mouth in amusement and she shrugged as her captain shot her a questioning look. Buffy dodged another punch that sailed towards her head as she grabbed the arms of the second to last vampire and pinned them behind his back. Nodding her head at her captain, she watched as he plunged the stake into the vampire's heart and it exploded into a cloud of dust. The last vampire, realizing it was now four against one, made a break for it, sprinting off towards the woods. Buffy unsheathed her zanpakuto and launched it through the air, watching as it spun rapidly before it struck it's intended target. The vampire was pinned to the tree, with Buffy's zanpakuto pierced through his waist. Buffy and the captains made their way over to the vampire that was currently howling in pain.

"Who are you working for?" Shinji asked, not bothering to beat around the bush.

"I'll die before I tell you that," the vampire hissed as he snapped his teeth at the 5th division captain.

"You'll die anyway," Byakuya commented dryly and Buffy rolled her eyes at him.

"So then kill me...you're not getting any answers out of me," the vampire growled and Buffy twisted the hilt of her sword in the vampire's gut, causing him to howl out in pain.

"Tell us what we want to know, and we won't stake your girlfriend later," Buffy stated calmly and the vampire's eyes widened in surprise.

"You wouldn't," he growled at her in frustration.

"We would, and we will if you don't start coughing up some answers."

"I don't know who he is! He wears a mask and he only appears once every few weeks," the vampire stated nervously.

"What kind of mask?" Buffy asked seriously, thinking about the broken mask that her murderer had been wearing on the night she was killed.

"I don't know. It's a wooden one...it looks like the devil's face, horns and all."

"Why are you guys working for him?" Shinji asked from her left.

"He supplies us with a shit load of blood every time he arrives, and he promised us that we would be able to walk in the day light, once he took over soul society."

Buffy let out an exasperated sigh, "And you guys believed him?" at his nod she continued, "What kind of things does he have you guys doing?"

"We have to train every night in combat, and we have to monitor soul society at all times. He wants us to know soul society's nightly routines and to study each division's behavior and schedules."

"How long have you been observing us?" Byakuya asked icily.

"For about three months now."

"When is your 'leader' preparing to attack?" Kensei demanded from behind Buffy.

"In about two months," the vampire stated, "Can I go now?"

"No," Buffy snapped, "Why are vampires in soul society? How did you guys get here?"

"We were collected and dropped off here by the same man," the vampire responded, starting to become agitated.

"What makes you so special? Why not collect exceptionally strong hollows?" Shinji asked as he drummed his fingers against the hilt of his zanpakuto.

"Because vampires consume blood as part of their...dietary needs. The blood that our leader has been supplying to us has been the blood of hollows. It has been making us stronger. Strong enough to take on and challenge your captains."

Buffy's eyes widened at this admission. That explained why the four vampires had been so strong during their fight with them, but they still weren't anything they couldn't handle, "Well I guess their blood isn't making you too much stronger, considering your predicament."

The vampire shook his head vigorously, disagreeing, "My friends that you took down and myself had only arrived here a few days ago. We had only been feeding on the espada's blood for about three days. Others have been feeding off of the espadas' blood for months. You guys really don't stand a chance against those vampires," he said with a satisfied smirk.

"The blood of the espadas?" Byakuya questioned at the same time that Buffy asked, "For months?"

The vampire just laughed in response, and Kensei, having had enough, quickly staked the vampire. At their shocked stares he merely shrugged his shoulders, "We got as much as we possibly needed to know out of him. We have enough knowledge to try and formulate some sort of defense strategy."

Buffy couldn't help but shrug her shoulders in agreement, "True," she stated as she pulled her zanpakuto out of the spot where it was buried in the tree.

"How did you know he had a girlfriend?" Shinji asked her as he re-sheathed his own zanpakuto.

"Lucky guess," Buffy said with a small smile.

"A really lucky guess," he agreed as the four of them flash-stepped back to the first division's headquarters.

"What answers a man will reveal for love," Kensei commented with a shake of his head as they waited for Yamamoto to appear.

As the captain commander finally appeared, Buffy listened attentively as the captains gave their leader a detailed verbal account of what went down in the forest. Buffy rubbed her chest absent-mindedly, and winced at the sharp pain that shot through her. She hoped that her slayer healing kicked into effect soon because she wasn't really looking forward to walking around and training with a broken rib in the morning. She snapped back to what Yamamoto was saying when she felt an elbow nudge her softly in her stomach and she locked eyes with her captain. Sighing slightly, Buffy listened as Yamamoto rambled on about setting up a patrol team - led by Buffy herself - to look out for any signs of vampires during the nights. She also listened as Yamamoto demanded that the captains mess around with their nightly routines and schedules on purpose so that their enemies didn't know who was stationed where and at what time during the nights.

As for the Espada, Yamamoto decided that he would send an investigation team - headed by Ichigo Kurosaki - into Hueco Muendo to try and find out which remaining Espada were supplying the vampires with blood and to see if Ichigo could find out where their leader was hiding. Buffy's duty was to be on standby in case Ichigo needed her help in Hueco Muendo or if any of the stronger vamps happened to try and infiltrate soul society. Yamamoto also requested that the captains' extend their daily training to prepare for an invasion within two months' time. A final demand from Yamamoto was that Kensei immediately begin training Buffy to earn her bankai using Urahara Kisuke's three-day-method. In return, Buffy was to teach the captains the proper techniques on how to fight vampires so that they could pass on these skills to their division members.

After the meeting ended, Buffy followed her captain back to the division and to his office. As she sat across from him for what seemed like the hundredth time that day, she couldn't help but feel exhausted, "So today was an interesting day."

"No kidding," Kensei agreed and started to scribble notes rapidly on a piece of paper in front of him, "I'm just really hoping that none of those super vampires make their way into soul society. I'm not sure our troops could handle them."

"I'm not so sure either," Buffy said sadly.

"Listen, Buffy, I know you're strong and that you can handle yourself, but don't get in over your head. The safety of my division's members comes first, and I want to make sure you bounce back from this situation in one piece, got it?"

"Got it," she replied with a small smile, "You be careful too," she added.

"So what's the what with this 3-day bankai thing?" Buffy asked as she leaned back in her seat.

"It is a method developed by Urahara Kisuke that will essentially allow you to obtain your bankai in three days. It's much more convenient because usually shinigami with captain-level spiritual power need hundreds of years to master their bankais. But, considering the insanely short time-frame, this method is also extremely dangerous...which is why Urahara is coming tomorrow to assist us with the method."

"Cool...dangerous is my middle name," Buffy quipped and flashed her captain a small smile.

"Just be careful. Urahara is pretty much insane and the only other person that has tried the method other than he - himself - is Kurosaki Ichigo and even then, Ichigo is a rare case. The kid is pretty much Hercules."

"Well, I'm kind of like the female Hercules, or Xena, so I guess I should be okay, right?"

"If you're not, I'm pulling you out of there. I'm not going to have you die on me," Kensei said seriously and finished writing several notes on the paper before him.

"Well, it wouldn't be the first time," Buffy retorted and Kensei shot her a questioning glance.

"I've died three times now, so it's nothing new, really. The Powers that Be would probably just drag me back here anyway."

"3 times?" Kensei said in shock.

"Yeah...I kind of have a tendency to get into some sticky situations," Buffy said slowly.

"I'm going to have to keep a closer eye on you than I thought," Kensei snorted before stretching his arms above his head and yawning, "What do you say we call it a day? You're going to have to get up early anyway so we can start training you for your bankai. We can't leave the area in those three days under any circumstances, so it's important that you're healthy and ready to go tomorrow."

"Then I'm pretty sure I've already started off on the right foot, breaking my rib and all," Buffy said with a smile and Kensei opened the door to his quarters before patting her lightly on the back.

"We'll check out your rib tomorrow, hopefully it will have healed by then."

"Hopefully," she agreed before leaving the office and making her way back to her own room. Right now sleep was just about the only thing on her mind.


	4. In The Spotlight

**A/N**: Ahh I'm sorry guys, I completely forgot to publish this.

** Fanatic-FanGirl: **Don't worry, it's not Rukia! :o). And I know, it's definitely sad when an author doesn't update (and I've been guilty of that in the past), but I've written outlines for the next couple of chapters, so that's been keeping me on track. And you're totally not spamming! I appreciate all of the comments muchly! :oD

**LindseyXZ:** The vampires are definitely doing some crazy stuff ;oP And yes Buffy will be giving a few pointers on proper vampire stakeage. Kensei is definitely starting to like Buffy (and will like her even more in the next chapter! ;O) ).

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||**Chapter 4:** In The Spotlight ||

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Buffy walked beside her captain as he led her out of the heart of soul society and towards some random spot just outside of it. They had eaten breakfast together this morning and had discussed everything from Buffy's bankai training to the patrolling that she would do once she had achieved bankai. She had also learned a little more about Kensei's background. He had told her that he had been a captain more than 100 years earlier but due to a series of events that he declined to tell her about - and she decided not to inquire about - he had lived in the human world for the past 100 years in Karakura town. She learned that a war had broken out between soul society and a former captain gone rogue - Aizen - and that Kensei, Shinji, and Rose had helped out along with some of their friends. After the war, Kensei, Shinji, and Rose had decided to take up their old positions within soul society now that their former positions were once again vacant. After that, Buffy had told Kensei a little about her background and her most recent battle with the First. She told him that she had a sister living in the human world who had probably just put Buffy's human body to rest. At that, Kensei had said some awkward words to comfort her, which Buffy accepted just as awkwardly, and the two quickly finished up their breakfast.

Now Kensei was leading her to a trap door in the ground. Wrenching the doors open, Kensei descended the stairs and Buffy shortly followed him afterwards. Gasping at the large open expanse of desert before her, Buffy was greeted with the sight of a man dressed in green robes who was wearing wooden sandals and waving a fold-up fan in his face. His eyes were covered by a combination of his shaggy blonde hair and his dark green hat. Laughing mysteriously, the man closed his fan and made his way over to Buffy and Kensei.

Extending a hand towards Buffy, the man cleared his throat, "Hello Miss Summers! It's a pleasure to meet you! My name is Urahara Kisuke."

Buffy shook the man's hand and watched as Kensei eyed him strangely, "Ah, Kensei, it's good to see you again," the man added as he turned towards Kensei.

"Yeah," Kensei agreed shortly before running a hand through his hair, "Let's get this over with," he added.

"It'll be no fun if you treat the process that way," Urahara scolded as he flipped the fan open again and waved it at Kensei, who grunted in response.

"So Buffy...I hear you want to achieve Bankai as soon as possible," at Buffy's nod Urahara continued, "Well I won't sugar coat things for you. It will be, 'extremely' dangerous," he said as he narrowed his eyes and closed the fan once more. Buffy had a strong urge to rip that damn fan out of his hands.

"Stop with all of the theatrics, Urahara, and just get the hell on with it!" Kensei growled from Buffy's left and Urahara made a 'tsk tsk' sound with his mouth.

Buffy couldn't help but laugh at her captain's outburst, "What do I have to do?"

Urahara laughed darkly as he whipped his robes around him and pointed directly behind him with his fan to a weird white structure in the middle of the training grounds. The structure sort of resembled a person, but the head of the body was shaped more like a cone. As Buffy waited for further instruction, she watched as Urahara moved towards the structure and wrapped an arm around it.

"Stabbing this device with your zanpakuto will cause your zanpakuto to materialize in front of you. After that happens, you will have to beat your zanpakuto into submission in order to obtain your bankai. Be warned, however, that your zanpakuto will only materialize for three days and the fighting method that it chooses is entirely up to them."

Buffy took in all of Urahara's words before nodding her head slowly. She watched as Kensei settled himself off to the side on a giant boulder.

"Once you stab this device, the timer on your 3-day limit begins," Urahara warned.

Buffy nodded again and motioned for Urahara to move out of the way, which he did, and settled himself next to Kensei. Buffy drew her zanpakuto out of its sheath before running over to the device and stabbing it in the middle. Buffy watched as it cracked, and after yanking her sword free, she watched as a black smoke rose from her zanpakuto and materialized into Sineya, who was looking completely injury-free as compared to the last time they had met.

"So you wish to obtain bankai," Sineya scoffed and stretched out a hand towards Buffy, "Well then you will have to beat me first."

Buffy watched as Sineya waved her hand and suddenly hundreds of tombstones appeared out of the sand and surrounded the duo. Buffy glanced around at the tombstones curiously. She noted, with mild horror, that each of the inscriptions on the tomb had her name, her date of birth, and her date of death, which just so happened to be today. Obviously Sineya was pretty confident that she would win this battle.

"Slayer. Within one of these graves is the scythe that you used to defeat the First great evil. If you can find it within three days, you can use it to try and kill me. Be warned, slayer, even if you find the scythe within three days, you still have to defeat me. Good luck."

With that, both women took up a fighting stance, and as Sineya lunged towards Buffy, she ran sideways and plunged her fist through a thin layer of sand that marked the grave nearest to her. Looking into the empty grave below her, Buffy was frustrated to find that the scythe was not in that particular grave. As she stood to move to another grave, she was tackled as Sineya flew into her and landed a sharp kick to her head. Dazed, Buffy shook the spots out of her vision and flipped onto her feet. Connecting her fist with Sineya's chin, Buffy sent her flying a few feet away. Using the distraction, Buffy kicked at the sand of another grave and growled in frustration. It was empty. She then hurriedly plowed through two more graves, with no results. Buffy was thrown into a tombstone, that promptly caved under her weight as Sineya flew onto her back. Knocking her off, Buffy hissed at the piece of tombstone that had pierced her side and caused blood to flow freely from the wound. Landing another blow to the other slayer's face, Buffy limped towards another tombstone and cleared that one before clearing another, and another.

As Buffy made to clear another grave, she was thrown into the grave as Sineya pounced on top of her. Seeing no scythe in sight, and now having a bruised and sore back, Buffy kicked at Sineya, who flew out of the grave and proceeded to try and bury Buffy alive. Coughing up sand as it poured on top of her, Buffy stood up and pulled Sineya's ankle harshly, causing the first slayer to fall flat on her face. Buffy then climbed out of the grave and ran in the opposite direction of Sineya as she plowed through more graves. Glancing to her left, she saw that her captain and Urahara were watching her closely and having a heated debate. Once she heard her captain yell loudly at Urahara, she saw the blonde in question move further away from Kensei, afraid that he would be hit if he didn't. With their distraction, Buffy failed to notice Sineya approaching from behind, and was given a rude awakening as something pierced her right shoulder blade. Crying out in pain, Buffy spun around and launched a violent kick to Sineya's midsection, furious with herself for becoming distracted.

* * *

Buffy panted from her position on the desert floor, blood pouring out of her mouth with every breath that she exhaled. It was now day three of her struggle against Sineya and she still hadn't found the scythe. Furthermore, she was bleeding from many open wounds on her body. As she struggled to get to her feet again, she grunted in pain as Sineya kicked her back to the ground and placed her boot on the small of Buffy's back.

"You are weak, Slayer. You will end up dying before you find the scythe, and even then you still have to defeat me. You are also running out of time. You only have a few short hours left."

"I'm well aware of that," Buffy muttered as she spit up both blood and sand. For a second, Buffy was worried she might actually die out here, but then she remembered that her captain and Urahara were only a few feet away and that they would probably intervene and stop the fight if they truly felt that she was in danger of dying. By the way that Kensei was pacing back and forth, however, Buffy had a feeling that Kensei might actually try and stop the battle sooner rather than later. Buffy knew that she couldn't give up. She had to achieve bankai so that she could protect soul society from the super vamps. If she failed, she had a feeling that soul society would most certainly crumble. Closing her eyes, Buffy exhaled slowly and gathered her energy as best as she could. Snapping her eyes open, she gathered her hands into tiny fists.

"You are dying, slayer, you won't last much longer," Sineya taunted from above her.

"Save your breath and worry about your own ass," Buffy snapped as she kicked her foot backwards and connected it with Sineya's leg, effectively throwing her off balance. Flipping onto her feet once more, Buffy forced her bleeding legs to run in the direction of the cluster of tombs just ahead. As she quickly plowed through them, she let out a frustrated yell as they, too, turned up empty.

"You are looking in the wrong places, slayer, you are only looking in places that you choose to see."

At her ominous comment, Buffy thought about what the first slayer said for a few minutes. 'Looking in places that she chose to see' ? What the hell did she mean by that? As Buffy closed her eyes once more, she dodged under a kick that was aimed for her head and roughly threw Sineya to the side as she concentrated on her surroundings. Snapping open her eyes, Buffy grinned triumphantly and ran over to her captain, who suddenly looked up at her, startled. Moving past him to the boulder that he had been sitting on only a few minutes ago, Buffy mustered up her strength and pushed the heavy boulder out of the way before her eyes landed on an unmarked tombstone. Bingo. Punching her fist into the sand, Buffy reached into the grave and pulled out a shining red scythe. Turning and raising the scythe into the air, she watched as Sineya narrowed her eyes at Buffy while Kensei gave her a full-blown smile.

"Kick her ass," he said simply.

"Will do," Buffy replied as she lunged after Sineya.

Sineya easily dodged the first swipe that Buffy took at her, but Buffy was pretty much counting on that. As Sineya landed a kick to Buffy's midsection, she stumbled back and fell to her knees. Before Sineya could make any further moves, however, Buffy was back on her feet and circling Sineya. She was a predator waiting for her prey to make the wrong move. Just as Buffy had hoped, Sineya made the first move and lunged towards Buffy. Buffy side stepped her attacker's move and twirled the scythe in her hands before swinging her body around and plunging the scythe into Sineya's midsection. She watched as Sineya made a futile attempt to pull the scythe out of her stomach. Determination flowing through her veins, Buffy pushed the scythe further into Sineya's stomach, nearly splitting her in two. Buffy watched as blood poured forth from Sineya's mouth before she flashed Buffy a bloody smile.

Buffy blinked and Sineya exploded in a cloud of red energy that hit Buffy squarely in the chest. Buffy was thrown from her feet and lay flat on her back as her skin glowed a shade of crimson for a few seconds before whatever energy had hit her seeped into her body. Buffy panted, feeling extremely exhausted. She was also in an ungodly amount of pain. But she felt a lot stronger, and she knew that she would now be able to use her bankai. As she looked at the sky above her, Buffy clenched the scythe tightly in her hand and watched as it changed form before her eyes and turned into her regular zanpakuto. In the next instant, Kensei's face came into her vision as he looked down at her battered body with concern.

"Alright, let's get you to the fourth division," he said softly as he scooped her up into his arms.

"I don't like doctors," Buffy whined as her captain said a quick 'See you later' to Urahara and began to walk out of the underground training facility.

"You're bleeding all over the place, you don't really get to argue with me," Kensei stated as he flash-stepped all the way to the fourth division with Buffy cradled in his arms.

As soon as Kensei entered the division, Unohana and a few of her division members hurriedly ushered the pair over to a spare hospital bed and as soon as Kensei laid Buffy down on the bed, Unohana got to work, performing various healing kidos on Buffy. As Unohana brought over an IV that was attached to a cart full of bags with a turquoise liquid in them, Buffy squirmed and attempted to kick her attendants off of her. Kensei made his way over to the bed and pinned Buffy's arms to her side.

"It'll be fine, Buffy, it's just a needle," Kensei said softly.

"I hate needles! And what is that stuff anyway? It looks toxic."

"It is something that will help numb your pain," Unohana stated gently as she swiped Buffy's left arm with solution and then wrapped a rubber band tightly around Buffy's upper arm. Buffy groaned at the feeling as Unohana tapped two fingers against Buffy's arm for a few minutes before sighing in relief as she found a raised vein in Buffy's arm. Buffy narrowed her eyes at Unohana and watched as the 4th division captain placed the IV in Buffy's arm and secured it in place with a piece of medical tape.

"All done," she said with a smile and Buffy frowned.

Kensei released Buffy's arms and looked down at her, "I'll be back later to check in on you."

"Bring chocolate..." Buffy slurred as the drugs began to take effect in her system and she suddenly felt extremely sleepy.

Kensei laughed at that, "I'll be sure to bring you back some chocolate," he agreed.

"And fluffy, fuzzy, bears," Buffy slurred further as she started to succumb to the sleepy feeling in her system.

Kensei laughed again before he flash-stepped away and Buffy finally succumbed to sleep.

* * *

When Buffy finally woke up, she felt a million times better. Examining her body, she noticed that her more serious wounds were tightly bound with hospital gauze. The majority of her injuries, however, were completely gone. She supposed she could chalk that up to a stellar combination of both her slayer healing and Unohana's handiwork. Still slightly sore, She propped herself up slowly in the hospital bed and noticed that a hospital curtain was surrounding the entire frame of her bed to give her privacy. She made a mental note to thank Unohana for that later. As she reached for the glass of water next to her bed, she gulped it greedily. Setting the glass back down, she looked over and noticed that four boxes of chocolate were stacked on top of each other and next to the chocolate a cute, fuzzy, little teddy bear was holding a card in its arms.

Snatching the bear and the card from the table, she opened the card and read it as a smile tugged at her lips. 'Here's hoping you feel better soon! Especially since you have to help save the world and all. From your favorite captains and your favorite lieutenant, Kensei, Shinji & Hisagi'. Laughing loudly, Buffy set the card back down on the table and cuddled the bear briefly to her chest. As she rested the teddy bear against her pillow, Buffy ripped open the first box of chocolates and starting shoveling the pieces into her mouth. She was starving. Buffy froze and dropped the box of chocolate in her lap as she heard two males laugh from in front of her. She swallowed the chocolate quickly and flushed with embarrassment as Kensei and Shinji entered her 'room' with smiles plastered onto their faces.

"I'm glad to see that you liked our gift," Kensei stated as he moved further into the room.

"Give me a break," Buffy whined, "I was on drugs and now I'm just hungry! Oh and thank you, by the way," she added as an afterthought.

"You're welcome," Kensei replied as he sat in the chair by her bed, "So how are you feeling today?"

"A lot better, which I'm guessing is a good thing since you both just turned your serious faces on."

"The captain commander needs you to start your patrolling tonight," Shinji answered as he picked up the teddy bear from next to Buffy and glanced at Kensei with a raised eyebrow.

"It was the only one that wasn't 10 feet tall," Kensei snapped at him in annoyance and watched as Shinji laughed lightly.

"How long was I out?" Buffy asked, pretending not to notice the slight red tint that stained her captain's cheeks.

"Nearly four days," Kensei responded and Buffy spit out the mouth full of water that she had just taken a sip of.

"Four days? Holy shit. Well no wonder they want me to patrol tonight."

"In your defense, your injuries were pretty severe," Shinji stated as he ran a hand through his short locks.

"Yeah...well Sineya isn't really a fluffy kitten when it comes to battle," Buffy said and then winced as she stretched her arms and pulled on her sore muscles.

"Sineya?" Shinji questioned as he snooped through Buffy's chart next to her bed.

"My zanpakuto," Buffy responded as she swung her legs over the side of the bed.

Immediately, both Shinji and Kensei stood beside her and placed a hand under each of her arms as they gingerly lifted her to her feet. Buffy thanked them before testing the waters on her balance and moving forward a few feet. Although she was still extremely sore, she had no real difficulties moving around. Placing both hands on her hips, Buffy cocked her head to the side and eyed both captains warily.

"Alright soo...here's my plan. Shower, food, and then patrolling if its dark out by the time I'm done with all of that."

"Sounds like a plan," Kensei said as he called to Unohana, "After your done eating, meet me in my office so you can meet with the patrol team. You'll have to train them a bit tonight too, but nothing too strenuous," Kensei finished as he eyed the gauze covering the majority of Buffy's upper torso.

"Sounds good," Buffy replied as Unohana made her way into the room and gave Buffy a thorough exam before redressing some of her wounds.

"Everything looks like it's healing properly. Just make sure you take it easy tonight. I don't want to see you back here for a while," Unohana smiled at her before leaving the room.

"Alright, off we go," Buffy said as she collected her things and did a little fist pump in the air, "I'll race ya," she nodded at Kensei and before he could respond she flashed-stepped away.

Reaching her division, Buffy saw - with a frown - that her captain had easily beaten her back to the division. Flashing her a satisfied smirk, Kensei draped an arm around Buffy's shoulders and walked her towards her room, "Sorry, Summers, but I've got years of experience on you."

"One day I'll beat you," Buffy promised and tried to ignore the flutter that tugged on her heart at the presence of Kensei's arm around her.

"I'll see you later," Kensei laughed before Buffy made her way into her room and shut the door behind her.

Leaping into the shower, Buffy sighed happily as she let the hot water soak into her aching muscles. Reflecting on her relationships with the captain of the 5th division and the captain of the 9th, Buffy found herself slightly confused. She had initially had a crush on Shinji due to his charming personality, but she could definitely see where Shinji might play the older brother role later on in her life in soul society. Kensei, however, was a whole other story. Buffy hadn't felt attracted to him in any way, shape, or form, upon initially meeting him. She just thought he was ruggedly handsome and made for delicious eye candy, but after spending the past few days with him she slowly found herself developing a budding attraction to him. And then there was Hisagi. Buffy found that she was also attracted to her lieutenant, but she hadn't spent enough one-on-one time with him to find out what those feelings actually meant. Sighing loudly, Buffy scrubbed her shampoo furiously into her hair as she reflected on these thoughts. She knew she probably shouldn't mix business with pleasure when it came to her superiors, but she had always had a problem when it came to letting her heart rule over her decisions in life.

* * *

Buffy once again sat in Kensei's office as he introduced her to the 9th division's patrol team. The team consisted of 5 shinigami from various seats within the division, including herself. Buffy shook the hand of each member as Kensei introduced them, and couldn't help but feel a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach that told her if they were to face any real danger on this patrol, the other four teammates in her group would probably get themselves killed or get Buffy killed as she died trying to protect them. As the introductions concluded, Buffy quickly filled the team in on the situation and began to inform them how to protect themselves against vampires and how to kill them as the group made their way to the border of soul society to patrol.

Buffy knew that this was not the only patrol unit, as there were random shinigami scattered about the area all over the circumference of soul society performing their nightly patrols as well, but Buffy's team was the only patrol group that was specifically stationed to sense out and defend against any vampires that might invade the surrounding area. As Buffy turned towards the 4th seat in her group, Tetsuya Kura, she flashed him a warm smile before passing him a wooden stake.

"Just in case," she stated at his confused look.

"Thanks," he said, nodding his head at her.

"So Buffy, you lived a whole other supernatural life before coming here right?" the 4th seat asked her as he briefly scanned the surrounding area for any signs of danger.

"Right," Buffy stated as she gathered her hair in her hands and pulled it into a high ponytail.

"What was it like?" he asked her excitedly.

"Well...it was dangerous, and depressing at times, and extremely happy at times, and thrilling. It really wasn't that much different from what we're doing now. Well, in terms of saving the world and what not...everything else was pretty different."

"Different how?" he pressed, clearly not letting up.

"Well, for one thing, I had to fight against different species of threats including vampires, demons, robots, and other nasties. I also only worked with a handful of people at all times," Buffy reflected sadly at her missed friends and family, "And I didn't get paid."

"You didn't get paid?" Kura asked choosing to focus on that fact above all else.

"I know," Buffy nodded with a hand on her hip, "It was pretty ridiculous considering how many times I put my life on the line to protect the world."

"And yet here you are, defending the world again," Kura commented with a small smile.

"Once a destiny girl, always a destiny girl," Buffy shrugged as she scanned the area again.

Standing up straight, Buffy was alarmed as her senses went haywire. Looking out into the darkness, Buffy could easily make out a sole vampire heading their way, "Incoming," she stated somewhat loudly, alerting the rest of her group. Moving stealthily, Buffy started to intercept the vampire, but was surprised when it had suddenly moved behind her using some form of flash-step. Buffy turned around rapidly and raised her zanpakuto to slice the vamp's head off, but once again she missed as the vampire blurred around her. Hearing a yell, Buffy turned as the vampire grasped one of her division members in his arms. Another division member quickly sprung into action and quickly fired off a kido at the vampire, who dodged out of the way with the man still in his arms before sinking his teeth into the neck of the male in front of him. Howling out in pain, Buffy was a blur of movement as she backhanded the vampire, sending it flying onto the ground. Wincing in pain, Buffy realized that the action had caused her to heavily bruise her hand. The vampire was pretty much a brick wall of pain.

"Stand back," she ordered her team as she stood in front of them. As they moved to form a line behind her, Buffy sprang into action and was on the vampire within seconds. Using her momentum, she cracked her elbow into the vampire's spine and listened as he grunted in pain. She might be a walking bruise tomorrow, but at least she was doing some damage to her opponent. Swinging her stake in a downward arc, Buffy prepared to dust the vamp but was once again caught off guard as moved quickly out of her line of sight. After hearing another howl of pain, she turned around to see that the vampire had easily snapped Kura's arm in half. She watched, mildly disgusted, as a bone poked through the skin of Kura's forearm. Shouting at her team to get out of the way, Buffy pulled Kura away from the vamp and behind her. She then whipped out her zanpakuto once more and lunged at the vamp. As she saw him preparing to move away once more she quickly moved in front of him.

"Not this time," she declared as she made a wide arc in the arc with her blade and disconnected the vamp's head from its body.

As she walked through the cloud of dust left over from the vamp, Buffy moved towards Kura and touched his arm gingerly, "Yuri, take him to the fourth division. The rest of you need to get out of here. I'll handle the patrolling session tonight."

Yuri immediately complied and wrapped Kura's good arm around her shoulder before she took off. The remaining two members refused to budge, however. Buffy eyed them up and down several times, not really understanding why they weren't going back to the division. The man on her right - Shuyin - was bleeding from the vampire bite he had received moments ago and the woman on her left - Suki - looked terrified of the situation that they were all current caught up in.

"You guys. I mean it, I can take over from here," Buffy stated simply.

"We're not just going to abandon you. Captain Kensei gave us orders to patrol the area," Shuyin stated as he pressed the side of his shinigami uniform to his neck to wipe off some of the blood.

"These vampires aren't your typical run-of-the-mill vamps. They've been feeding off the blood of an espada, which has made them exponentially stronger combined with their own natural power."

"So then we'll fire off kido as you slay the rest of them," Suki stated and folded her arms across her chest, "You can't do this alone, Buffy. We're your team."

Buffy opened her mouth and closed it at that. Usually whenever she told Xander or Willow to let her take care of things, they would protest at first, but then they would eventually give in and let her defeat the big bad. She had never encountered this type of situation before. These people were willing to let vampires rip them into tiny shreds as long as it meant they could help her defend soul society against ruin. Buffy sighed and slumped her shoulders in defeat before telling them that they could stay. She only hoped that she was making the right decision, because she could very well have two more bodies on her hands before dawn broke.

As several more hours passed, Buffy found herself becoming weary and as she looked up into the sky she realized that the first rays of dawn were beginning to spill across the sky. Turning towards her comrades, who had started to fall asleep against the fence post, Buffy smiled slightly and stretched her arms behind her head, "Alright guys, we can head back now. Daylight is coming in."

As Buffy flash-stepped to her division, she wrote up a quick report of the night's events and slipped it in the box outside of her captain's office. She never thought that by accepting this job, she would have more homework to do. Yawning loudly, Buffy made her way back to her bedroom before falling into a dreamless sleep.

* * *

Waking up around noon, Buffy showered and dressed before she made her way to the mess hall for some food. As she filled up her tray with food, she looked around the area and spotted Hisagi sitting with Kura and Yuki at one of the tables in the back. Making her way over to the table, Buffy winced as she saw Kura's arm in a full sling. Setting down her tray, Buffy sat across from Hisagi and focused her attention on Kura.

"How's that arm?" she asked genuinely concerned.

"It's better. Unohana gave me a lot of pain meds, so it's not bothering me too much," he confessed as he shoveled rice into his mouth with a pair of chopsticks.

"Good. I'm glad you're feeling better," Buffy said truthfully.

"I'm sorry I was such a liability last night," Kura said and flushed with embarrassment.

"You weren't at all. That vampire was just doped up on espada blood, I even earned some heavy bruises in that fight myself," she stated as she showed him her hand and then quickly removed it as she noticed that the bruises were turning yellow, meaning that they were nearly gone.

"I heal fast," she said quickly at Kura's raised eyebrow.

"Well, none-the-less, Kensei is trying to figure out a new way to approach these patrolling sessions," Hisagi revealed as Buffy scooped some of her lo mein into her mouth.

"The best way to approach them is to gather up all the vampires at once, tie them to a really large stake, and just light the suckers on fire," Buffy said as she took a sip of her tea.

"Is that possible?" Yuki asked hopefully.

"Nah. They'd overpower us too easily," Buffy answered, "Plus we have no idea where most of them are. The vamps back where I'm from used to cluster together in nests. These vampires seem to thrive on doing the whole 'I'm fiercely independent' thing."

Hisagi sighed loudly as he wiped his face with a napkin, "Anyway, Kensei wants to see you as soon as you're free, Buffy."

"Whhhhhyyyyyy?" Buffy whined as she stabbed at a piece of chicken with her chopstick and popped it into her mouth, "Don't I get a mini-break before duty calls again?"

"Did you get a break back at home?" Hisagi countered.

"I made my own breaks back at home," Buffy replied, staring him down. She decided not to tell him that usually her self-imposed breaks caused a huge fight between her and her watcher.

"I'm sure it's just to go over the report that you submitted this morning," Hisagi relented.

"Oh yeah...about those. I don't like writing them," Buffy stated with a serious look on her face, causing Kura to laugh.

"No one in our division does, which is why I'm usually the one stuck writing them," Hisagi complained as he finished off his drink.

"Well you do such a fantastic job with them," Buffy complimented.

"I'm not going to write your reports for you Buffy. I wouldn't even know what to say."

"All you have to do is sit there and listen as I recount the events to you," Buffy pushed as she shoved a giant wad of food into her mouth.

"Not happening. I would rather listen to Rose play the guitar."

"I can arrange that," Buffy said and a dark look passed over her face.

Hisagi suddenly looked terrified, "I have to be...somewhere...not here," he muttered quickly as he flash-stepped away.

Yuki and Kura were roaring with laughter by the time he left. Buffy smiled at them and continued her conversation with them for the next 15 minutes before she finished her meal and excused herself to go and meet with their captain. Arriving at his quarters within seconds, Buffy knocked gently on the door and entered as she heard the 'come in' from within. Kensei lit up immediately as he saw her and dropped his pen onto the top of the stack of papers he was currently writing on.

"Hey Buffy," he greeted and watched as she settled herself across from him.

"Hey...Hisagi mentioned you wanted to see me?"

"Oh yeah. It's about the report," he paused and pulled it in front of him, "From what you wrote, it seems like things went south pretty quickly last night."

"They pretty much did," Buffy responded as she briefly recapped the situation for him, "If I hadn't been there, Kensei, I'm not so sure we would have had four seated officers among us today."

"I don't know," he agreed and then folded the report into threes, "The situation is pretty serious. Considering the injuries that Kura and Shuyin obtained I'm not so sure if it's a good idea to send them back out there tonight."

Buffy nodded her head in understanding, "So then I'll patrol alone?"

Kensei shook his head, looking bewildered at the idea, "Not a chance. We'll figure something else out."

"I can handle myself," Buffy offered in her defense.

"Can you handle yourself against 5 of those guys at once, should they decided to go in on a group effort?" Kensei questioned seriously.

Buffy was silent at that. She knew that she absolutely couldn't. At least, not without properly honing her zanpakuto's skills and abilities. She was certain that once she mastered her abilities and continued to train, she would be able to handle multiple vampires of the level that she had encountered last night, but at this point in time, there was no way that she could face off against multiple of them without gaining serious injuries or dying. Looking at the ceiling of her captain's office, Buffy silently cursed the Powers that Be once more. Where were her 'other talents' as Whistler had so cryptically mentioned to her? She could just about use them right now.

"No. We'll figure something else out," Kensei repeated as he shuffled papers around on his desk.

"Anyway, we should continue your training during the afternoons. It's important that you master both your shikai and bankai abilities, especially with this threat on the horizon."

"For how long?" Buffy asked as she focused her attention back on him.

"Until you're completely and utterly exhausted and can't train anymore," Kensei responded and Buffy groaned loudly.

"Look, I know it's a pain in the ass, but you're going to be a key player in this upcoming battle whether you like it or not. It's better to be over-prepared for the battle then under-prepared," Kensei scolded and Buffy slumped in her chair.

"Can we fast forward to the battle?" she asked and watched as Kensei snorted with laughter.

"Hmmm, I'm not so sure that would be the best idea either," Kensei confessed and Buffy had to agree.

Whatever battle was approaching on the horizon, Buffy had a dark feeling in the pit of her stomach about it. Whatever happened two months from now could not possibly be good.

/


	5. Let's Go

**A/N: **Time-Jump ahead! I hate describing months' worth of training, so this is my lazy way out haha.

** LindseyXZ:**It will definitely take Buffy a while to be prepared, but since I am lazy and did a time-jump she's pretty prepared now ;OP. As for the BuffyxKensei relationship, we will definitely see that happening in this chapter ;O).

** Fanatic-FanGirl**: I thought the method of battle for the bankai fight was kind of fitting too. It was so hard to come up with an idea though...especially after re-watching the greatness that was the Ichigo version. But yes, these vampires can wipe out a patrol group pretty easily, which is not good! And no, they weren't patrolling while Buffy was bed-ridden. I'm sure that will come back to bite them in the butt ;o).

* * *

|| **Chapter 5**: Let's Go ||

* * *

Buffy rolled out of bed and slammed her alarm clock across her room, not even caring that it shattered against the wall. She was exhausted. The last six months had been a whirl wind of training, patrolling, more training, and more patrolling. Even in her role as the slayer, she had never felt this exhausted before. To cap it all off, the 2-month mark for the supposed "war" had come and gone without so much as a vicious wind blowing through soul society. After the 2-month mark had passed, everyone in soul society had waited with baited breath to see what would happen. Once 3 months had passed, everyone was in an uproar because the supposed "war" hadn't actually happened. The captain commander had been particularly disturbed by this turn of events and instead of relaxing and using the extra time to train his troops, he had turned into an uber commander and had demanded - not only extra training that lasted well into the night - but frequent and constant sweeps of the areas surrounding soul society. This meant that Buffy's schedule was thrown into complete chaos as she was forced to infiltrate various areas of the land at all hours of the day and night. She was also still training vigorously with Kensei even though she had mastered her shikai and bankai 'ages' ago. The latter part of the schedule didn't bug her as much, however, because she enjoyed her time spent with Kensei. She had learned a lot from her captain about various techniques but, that aside, she genuinely enjoyed his company and had become very close friends with him over the past several months.

Buffy had confided in him all about her dark past and had revealed very private things to him that she hadn't told anyone else, like how her mother's death had affected her and general things about her relationships with the vampires Angel and Spike. He had been shocked at that revelation. He hadn't expected her to have had relationships with the creatures that she slayed every night. Buffy also told him all about her friends and family back in the living world and how slayers had been activated all over the world thanks to her. Buffy also revealed, somewhat reluctantly, how she had died at the hands of a teal-haired Espada. Kensei had remained silent during that revelation, but Buffy had excused his silence as him being unsure of how to react to the gruesome details of her death. For his part, Kensei had told Buffy all about his childhood - or what he could remember of it - and his early days as a captain in soul society. He also shared his memories of his time with his friends - and fellow ranked officers - in Karakura town down in the living world. As much as he revealed, however, Buffy could tell that Kensei was still hiding something from her. Not wanting to ruin their relationship, Buffy hadn't pried about it, but she was secretly hoping that he would tell whatever was on his chest to her soon. Especially because Buffy genuinely felt like she had a deeper connection with her captain than most, and this was only further amplified by the fact that they ate almost every meal together and even hung out together downtown on the weekends with Hisagi, Rangiku, and Kira. The first time Buffy invited Kensei to come downtown with them, she had to practically pull his teeth to get him to come along. Now, however, it was a regular occurrence and they had even added Rose, Shinji, and Shinji's lieutenant, Hinamori, to their group.

However many times she tried to ignore it, though, Buffy could not stop the feelings that had started to develop for her captain. Those feelings had only grown stronger during the last six months spent with him too. Buffy was starting to feel a little like a love sick puppy because every time that Kensei had to attend a meeting or train the rest of the division, she felt sad and lonely at the absence of his presence. She had initially tried to shrug off those feelings, but it was nearly impossible. She was becoming infatuated with him, and she could only wonder if he felt the same way. She didn't dare bring up her feelings for him herself, however, because she didn't want to ruin the working relationship she had with him, even though she had already pretty much ruined it anyway by bringing him downtown with her group of friends. Buffy couldn't even count the number of times she had spent lying on a roof with her captain in the middle night, staring up at the stars, and revealing her deepest fears to him over the last six months.

Clearing her head of her thoughts, Buffy hopped into the shower and quickly dressed. As she looked at her reflection in a passing mirror she winced at the dark circles that were starting to become a permanent fixture around her eyes. She hadn't signed up to ruin her complexion in this job. Well, she reminded herself, she hadn't signed up for this job at all. She was more or less forced into it by the Powers that Fuck Everything Up. Sighing at her appearance, Buffy quickly coated her face with foundation and powder before dapping some concealer around her eyes. She didn't even know why she was bothering to put on make-up though. Just like most days, it would probably come completely off her face by the time she rolled back into her bed. Which was not often, she was reminded as she sluggishly stumbled out of her room and looked towards the direction of the dining hall. Standing in the doorway to her room for a few minutes, Buffy wondered if she had enough energy to drag herself over to the dining hall to eat. Grumbling in frustration, Buffy watched as Kensei emerged from his quarters across the way and waved to her brightly. Staring back at him blankly, Kensei frowned in concern and made his way over to her.

"You look terrible," he commented as they walked together towards the dining hall.

"Thanks," Buffy said sleepily and sighed.

"I'll talk to the commander later, maybe he can ease up on your patrolling."

"No, that's okay, he has the best intentions. We really should be covering all of the areas and eliminating as many vamps as possible."

"Buffy, you can barely stand. You won't be of much use on the battlefield if you're falling asleep on your opponents."

"Then I'll just have to find a way to kill them by sleep fighting," she responded and leaned slightly on Kensei's shoulder as she straightened herself out and continued walking.

"I'm serious," Kensei said as the duo entered the dining hall and began to fill up on food, "This is not healthy."

"I'm serious too, Kensei. As much as I would love to dive into my bed right now, there's a serious threat on the horizon and I'm not sure if we're well equipped to handle it."

"Yeah, there's been a serious threat on the horizon for quite some time now," Kensei retorted and Buffy rolled her eyes.

"Come what may, we have to be on high alert at all times," Buffy stated seriously as the duo plopped themselves at a table and began to eat.

"Hmmmm," Kensei murmured as he ate quietly.

After a few minutes of silent eating, Kensei stood up abruptly and excused himself as he made a mad dash across the room and plopped himself down at a random table. Buffy followed Kensei's movements and saw that the captain commander was sitting at the table that Kensei had forcefully plopped himself in front of. Buffy shook her head and propped her head up on her arms as she tiredly watched the duo exchange a heated conversation back and forth. Suddenly, Buffy's eyes locked with the captain commander's and she looked down. Stabbing at a stray crouton in her salad, Buffy was once again greeted with Kensei's presence as he placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Come on, let's get you back to your room," he stated quietly.

"What did you say to him?" Buffy demanded looking up at her captain in annoyance.

"I told him that he was working you too hard," Kensei said honestly.

"Why would you tell him that?" Buffy hissed, "Now he's going to think I'm weaker than I look. And let me tell you, I don't look like the strongest warrior on the block."

"He doesn't think anything like that," Kensei countered as he gently pulled Buffy into a standing position, "He knows what your capabilities are. He did hire you, remember?"

Buffy followed Kensei out of the dining hall and didn't bother to protest the situation anymore. She knew he was right, and as much as she would love to continue the argument, she simply did not have the energy to. Sighing in defeat, she allowed herself to be led back to her room, and as the door closed behind her, she dove into her bed and quickly passed out.

* * *

Waking up sometime later, Buffy noticed that it was dark outside of her room. Bolting upright, she panicked as she realized she had slept for at least 10 hours, if not more. Flustered, Buffy straightened out the wrinkles in her robes and bolted out of her room before knocking rapidly on the door to Kensei's office. She entered without waiting for his reply, and was surprised to find her captain standing on his desk changing the light bulb directly above it.

"Hey Buffy," he said lazily as he screwed in the light bulb and hopped off the desk, "Sleep well?"

"More like slept for waaaay too long," Buffy said as she stretched and sat across from him.

"You probably needed that though."

"I definitely needed that," Buffy agreed, "But in the process I skipped about 10 hours worth of duties for the day."

"Don't worry about that. We didn't need to train today, and Hisagi is covering your patrol as we speak."

"I'll have to thank him for that later," Buffy commented offhandedly as she looked around the office.

She finally noticed that the furniture in the little common area of Kensei's quarters was rearranged in a different pattern and that the usually green walls were now painted a light beige. Turning towards him she carefully observed a few splashes of paint that were adorning his captain's coat. "Redecorating?" she questioned with an amused smirk.

"It was getting boring in here," he answered as he, too, looked around the room.

"Can't argue with that. I was wondering when you'd change it," Buffy said and laughed at the withering look that Kensei shot her way.

"It wasn't that bad," he complained as he moved around the desk and sat on the edge of it, so that he was now only inches from her.

"It was pretty bad," she breathed gazing up at him and wondered what was going through his head.

"Yeah?" he questioned softly as he looked down at her and placed both hands on either side of him at his desk.

"Yeah," she confirmed as the duo stared at each other for a while in silence.

Buffy coughed awkwardly and stood up, "Well I should probably get going and see if I can't intercept Hisagi."

"Yeah," Kensei agreed and as Buffy made to move past him, Kensei grabbed her arm and pulled her in closely so that their faces were barely inches apart.

Buffy, not sure as to what was going on, was quickly relieved of her confusion - and her breath - as Kensei smashed his lips against hers in a mind-blowing kiss. Melting into the kiss, Buffy kissed him back just as vigorously and with just as much force as Kensei wrapped one hand around her waist and buried the other in her hair. Buffy reached up and wrapped both arms around his neck as Kensei nibbled on her lower lip, begging for access. Parting her lips, Buffy gasped as Kensei's tongue slipped easily into her mouth and the kiss deepened. The next few minutes passed with tongues clashing and fingers roaming over each other's bodies as Buffy and Kensei finally gave in to the unspoken desire that that had been growing between them over the past few months.

Breaking apart to gain access to air, Buffy panted lightly as she struggled to regain her breath, "So...I guess...Hisagi can wait," she said breathlessly.

"He can definitely wait," Kensei agreed and Buffy felt his eyes roaming over her, filled with pure lust, "I've been wanting to do that for a while."

"Why didn't you?" Buffy demanded as Kensei pulled her into his chest once more.

"Because I didn't know if you wanted it as badly," Kensei admitted.

"Well, I think you just got your answer to that question," Buffy said as she pulled Kensei's head down to hers and the duo locked lips for the second time that night.

"Mmmmmm," Kensei agreed as he slid his tongue into Buffy's mouth once more. Buffy moaned into his touch as Kensei slid his hands into Buffy's robes and ran his fingers over the smooth skin of her back and stomach.

Kensei started to tug at the sash that was holding Buffy's robes together when the door to his office cracked open with a thud. Breaking apart from their heated kiss, Buffy and Kensei whirled around to see Shinji standing in the entrance way of the office with his hands folded over his chest and a smug smirk on his lips. Buffy felt her cheeks redden deeply at being caught, and she hid her body partially behind Kensei's as if that would somehow make her invisible.

"What the fuck are you doing here, Hirako?" Kensei snapped at his comrade, clearly wanting to murder him at his unwelcome intrusion.

"Not making out with my third seat, if that's what you were wondering," Shinji answered and moved out of the way as Kensei lunged for his throat.

"I could kill you right now," Kensei roared at him and Buffy watched as Shinji plopped himself into the chair behind Kensei's desk.

"I know," he said with a smug smile but then suddenly his expression turned serious, "Ichigo is arriving tomorrow."

Kensei's expression changed from one of pure rage, to curiosity, to disinterest, and finally settled on minor annoyance. Buffy watched the transition with mild amusement as she followed Kensei to the chairs in front of his desk and sat down next to him.

"So?" Kensei prodded as propped his feet up on top of his own desk.

"So...Ichigo is arriving tomorrow," Shinji said again only this time more slowly, seeing if Kensei would comprehend his meaning. At his silence, Shinji rolled his eyes, "He's coming to deliver the report of his investigation in Hueco Muendo last weekend. Said he found some interesting stuff."

"Am I supposed to be concerned about this?" Kensei said in aggravation.

"Well considering his findings could mean that we could end up going to war tomorrow, I think we should all be concerned about this," Shinji responded before adjusting his tie.

"And you couldn't have waited to tell me about this tomorrow?"

"Ichigo will be here tomorrow. The announcement wouldn't have meant anything."

"Well next time, how about you send a hell butterfly over here like normal people?" Kensei ground out and Buffy was tempted to point out that hell butterflies were anything but normal.

"Hmmmm, well I'm glad I interrupted this..." he waved his fingers towards the two of them, "Whatever this is. It's about damn time that you two figured out how to use your heads...and your lips," he added with a suggestive wiggle of his eyebrows.

"GET THE FUCK OUT OF HERE!" Kensei roared and Buffy heard a peal of laughter escape Shinji as he left her captain's office in a blur of motion.

"So this Ichigo kid I've been hearing so much about is finally coming here?" Buffy questioned and watched as Kensei sunk further into his chair and a low hiss escaped his mouth.

"I guess so..." he answered before sitting up straight and looking at her seriously, "Be prepared for anything, Buffy, Ichigo's presence usually comes with some sort of chaos."

* * *

Sure enough, Kensei had been right. As soon as Ichigo Kurosaki had arrived in soul society the following day, there seemed to be an uproar of commotion with his presence. Buffy had no idea why people were acting the way they were, as far as she saw it, he was just a kid who was packing some serious power. She also knew that whatever Ichigo had discovered in Hueco Muendo was not the source of the commotion because 'that' meeting hadn't even been held yet. Buffy knew this because she was supposed to attend the meeting herself. She had gotten into a mini fight with Kensei earlier in the morning about her attending the meeting because she really hadn't wanted to and insisted that she needed to patrol the area. Kensei had demanded that she attend the meeting because she needed to hear what Ichigo had discovered just in case she needed to start preparing to fight whoever the vampires' leader was in Hueco Muendo. The fight had escalated towards the end and resulted in an interesting finish, with Buffy and Kensei making out on top of his desk.

Buffy touched a finger to her lips at the memory before blushing deeply. As she made her way over to her captain's office for the second time that morning, she was surprised to see Shinji sitting across from her captain and a teenager sitting on directly to Shinji's right. As she entered, three sets of eyes were glued on her as she sat on Shinji's left in the third empty seat and stared up at the ceiling. This meeting was yet another one that she hadn't wanted to attend. She was supposed to go shopping with Rangiku before the meeting with the captain commander but yet again Kensei had requested that he meet with her in his office before the captains' meeting. At the time, Buffy thought that Kensei wanted to go for round 2 and finish their session from earlier, but as she now looked at the other two figures in the room, she realized that this wasn't 'that' kind of meeting. Studying the teenager to Shinji's right, Buffy noticed that he had a deep scowl on his face and was purposely looking away from everyone in the room. He also had bright orange hair that could have easily lit up any room if there was a sudden power outage.

"Alright, now that everyone's here, we can begin," Kensei spoke and nodded towards Shinji, who produced a long manila folder from within his robes and dropped it on the desk before him.

"Snagged this from Ichigo just a few minutes ago," Shinji answered as he flashed a full, toothy grin at both Kensei and Buffy and flipped open the folder to the first page.

"Only because you sent Hiyori after me to intercept the damn thing," Ichigo growled as he sat up straight and tossed Shinji an angry glare.

"I went through severe torment to get her to do that," Shinji promised as he slid his chair back far enough so that Buffy could see both of them clearly.

"Whatever," Ichigo commented as Kensei pulled the documents out from the folder and scanned over them briefly, his eyes flashing wide with surprise.

"So you're Ichigo?" Buffy commented and purposely raised a pointed eye brow at the other two captains in the room at their lack of a proper introduction. She watched as Shinji just smiled sheepishly and shrugged and her own captain ignored her in favor of the contents of the folder in front of him.

"Yeah," he said and suddenly smiled at her, "I wouldn't expect these two idiots to properly introduce the two of us."

Buffy just laughed, "True...well hello Ichigo, I'm Buffy," she said as the two of them quickly shook hands.

"The vampires are getting their blood from the 6th espada and the 3rd?" Kensei suddenly questioned loudly.

"Yeah," Ichigo said with a sigh, "I asked Grimmjow why he was doing it, but he wouldn't give me much in the way of answers. He said something about not having a choice and that he would probably be killed if he didn't."

"Did you try killing him yourself for answers?" Shinji asked in a low voice.

"No...because he pretty much offered to help us, even though he wouldn't give us answers," Ichigo responded.

"I'm not a fan of that offer," Buffy suddenly snarled and caught the attention of the occupants in the room, "Don't look at me like that. I'm not about to work with an espada when it was an espada that killed me in the world of the living. I'm sorry, but if I come in contact with this guy, I'm killing him. No questions asked," Buffy stated coldly, not knowing that the espada in question 'was' in fact, the one that had killed her in the world of the living.

"Help us how?" Kensei asked as he dropped the folder back onto the desk and pretended to ignore the look of pure rage that Buffy had sent his way.

"He said he no longer wanted to work for this guy and that he got in over his head at the thought of having more power."

"Doesn't everyone," Buffy commented, still fuming.

Ichigo continued, "He was obviously embarrassed at admitting it though, so I really couldn't get much more out of him without him trying to cut me in half. He said that when the time presented itself, he would give us a warning."

"What kind of warning?" Shinji demanded.

"I don't know...he didn't tell me," Ichigo admitted, looking somewhat sheepish.

"Did you have any success with Halibel?" Kensei interjected.

"No. She wasn't around and I couldn't sense her presence. Grimmjow just happened to spill that the other espada working with this guy was Halibel. He made it sound like she didn't have much of a choice either though. I'm guessing this guy is a power house."

"He has to be if he's controlling two high ranking espada. The last person with that capability was..." Shinji trailed off and Buffy could hear him grit his teeth at whatever thought had popped into his head.

"Aizen," Ichigo finished and placed both of his arms behind his head, "I know. This isn't really a good sign, especially because of that other thing I discovered."

All eyes immediately turned to him and he continued, "I forced some of the lower-level arrancars to reveal something about a 3-wave war."

"What does that mean?" Buffy asked curiously now that most of her anger had dissipated.

"It means that the war will come in three stages, each wave more powerful than the last, until soul society is completely wiped out," Ichigo answered solemnly, "The first stage was supposed to happen four months ago but Grimmjow's leader - whose identity he 'still' wouldn't reveal - found out about your snooping activities and killed the majority of the vampires that he suspected in being involved with the information leak."

"That explains why I haven't been finding much in my patrols," Buffy commented and Kensei nodded his head in agreement.

"But if super vamps are involved in the first wave, then what the hell kind of species are involved in the second and final waves?" Shinji asked, semi-horrified.

"I don't know," Ichigo admitted and looked a little frightened himself.

"Great...I have a feeling this means a whole lot more work for all of us," Buffy groaned as she fiddled with the cross around her neck.

"Well on the bright side, at least we know we have an informant," Shinji commented and stood from his seat.

"At least until he gets himself killed in the process," Kensei said with a shake of his head.

"I'm not letting that happen," Ichigo said with determination in his eyes and Buffy shot a glare in his direction at the thought that Ichigo was willing to keep a murderous espada alive.

"Yes, well, we should probably head to the captains' meeting. We don't need Yama-jii coming after us because we're late."

At that, the four occupants of the room made their way to attend what would be the longest meeting of Buffy's life.

* * *

"I'm surprised he didn't fall asleep during that speech," Buffy later commented of the captain commander as she walked beside Kensei to the training grounds.

"I caught his eyes drooping a few times," Kensei replied, earning a small smile from the slayer.

"I can see why everyone likes Ichigo so much," Buffy commented as she stood in the center of the training grounds and released her zanpakuto from its sheath.

"He's a good kid," Kensei agreed as he clashed his blade against Buffy's.

"And he's a human," Buffy stated as more of a question as she defended an attack from her captain.

"Yeah, he is. It turns out his father was a shinigami and he married a human, which explains why Ichigo is able to turn into a shinigami as well."

"And yet he's stronger than pretty much all of you captains combined," Buffy commented with an amused smile.

"Yeah...well, that's something that I'll never fully understand," Kensei said as he flash-stepped around Buffy and attempted to strike her from behind. Buffy easily blocked his attack.

"Buffy Summers. It's time that we finally battled," Buffy heard a voice from behind her boom.

Turning around, Buffy and Kensei both watched in surprise as the 11th division captain stood before them in all his scary glory. He was holding his zanpakuto out before him as if he was about to slice up some meat for a barbeque later. Buffy's mouth set in a grim line as she looked at her captain questioningly. Shaking his head 'no', Kensei immediately stood in front of his third seat and eyed Zaraki Kenpachi warily.

"What are you doing here, Zaraki? This is my training area."

"Fuck off Muguruma...I have every right to challenge your third seat."

"You fuck off, Zaraki, you can't just barge into any damn division you want any time you feel like it."

"I can, and I did. I also took a dump in your toilet for good measure," Buffy watched as a vein popped out in her captain's forehead and she quickly took action.

Moving in front of Kensei and placing an arm in the center of his chest, she turned towards Kenpachi, "Alright, knock it off. If you want a fight, I'll give you one."

"That's more like it," Kenpachi grinned.

Buffy stole a glance at her captain and watched as he was about to protest the situation. Giving him a glare that clearly read 'don't start', she watched as Kensei groaned in defeat and moved off to the side to give the duo room. Taking a fighting stance, Buffy braced herself for Kenpachi's first attack. As his sword clashed against her own, a crack was heard in the distance as the force behind the attack caused a nearby tree to splinter down the center. 'Okay,' Buffy thought, 'He's clearly not holding back'. The two of them jumped backwards to give each other more room. Buffy straightened herself as she analyzed the madman before her. There was no use going easy on him, because it was obvious that Kenpachi had intended for this to be a fight to the death. It was time to unleash the slayer.

Snapping her head to the left as she saw a pink blur dart into the training grounds and settle next to Kensei she watched as a tiny pink-haired girl sat next to Kensei, while shoving a bag full of candy into her mouth.

"Go Ken-chan!" She cheered as she pumped a little fist into the air.

"Don't distract us, Yachiru," Kenpachi warned as he lunged towards Buffy again.

Buffy blocked his attack with a little strain and launched a counter attack that forced Kenpachi to be on the defense as he took a few steps backwards. Launching attack after attack against Kenpachi with frightening speed, she smiled in satisfaction as one of her attacks landed and sliced a clean cut across Kenpachi's chest. Roaring with laughter, Kenpachi smiled excitedly and grasped his blade with both hands before swinging it at Buffy in a downward arc. Buffy had barely managed to block the blow, as it blasted her clear across the training grounds and into the splintered tree, that crumbled underneath Buffy's weight. Staggered from the blow, Buffy placed a hand to the back of her head and winced when she pulled it away and discovered blood coating her hand. Narrowing her eyes angrily, Buffy flipped onto her feet and flash-stepped towards her opponent. As she aimed a strike at his head, Kenpachi moved to block her attack, but at the last second she changed her attack and instead flipped her zanpakuto around in her hands and dropped down low to the ground before slamming the hilt of her blade into Kenpachi's stomach. Surprised, he stumbled backwards and Buffy used her momentum to land a series of air-born kicks to his hulk-like figure before she buried her zanpakuto into the madman's stomach, up to the hilt.

Laughing even more loudly Kenpachi pulled the sword out of his gut and knocked Buffy backwards, "Now this is a battle."

Buffy blocked another swing of Kenpachi's sword, but as she was about to block his second, she tripped over a mound in the grass and was stabbed painfully in her left shoulder by Kenpachi's blade. Grinning like a madman she looked up as Kenpachi wrenched his blade from her shoulder, "Don't get so cocky. I tripped."

Laughing at her response, Buffy jammed her elbow into Kenpachi's stomach wound and sent him flying backwards again. Feeling her blood boil in sudden rage at her newly acquired wound, Buffy attempted to calm herself down. She had no idea why she was suddenly so angry, but she was unable to shake the rage that burned in her eyes. Growling lowly, Buffy leaped into the air and brought her zanpakuto down towards Kenpachi's skull with all the force of a hurricane. As she watched Kenpachi dodge out the way, she quickly snapped her arm around, and with lightning speed she dug her blade into Kenpachi's forearm. She then landed a heavy blow with her left fist that connected underneath his chin and snapped his head backwards. As his body propelled backwards, Buffy dragged the blade of her zanpakuto upwards where it was buried within his arm and cut a deep wound in his arm that extended from his wrist all the way up to his shoulder. Yanking her sword free, Buffy nearly screamed and her vision went red. The next few minutes were a complete out-of-body experience for Buffy as her speed increased by a thousand and she connected kicks and punches to every visible part of Kenpachi's body. When she was not pummeling him like a punching bag, she was slicing every inch of his skin with her zanpakuto. She felt like she was watching a gore-filled action movie, only she was the star. Not able to control herself, Buffy felt the anger exploding into her hands, her feet, her head, and finally her heart. She had no idea why she was so angry but she could not stop the rage-fuelled power from unleashing itself into her opponent.

As Buffy kicked Kenpachi backwards one more time, she snapped her blade out to her side and let an inhuman growl escape her lips as she swung her blade down and pointed it towards Kenpachi. As she released her power, Buffy watched through tunnel vision as a bolt of purple energy sky rocketed from her sword and hit Kenpachi square in the chest. As Buffy watched him fly several hundred feet away, she growled once more and her body shook angrily. Above her, the clouds swirled together and turned a dark shade of purple as lightning flashed across the sky and thunder sounded. Buffy lifted her zanpakuto straight into the air and the lightning struck her blade before dancing around Buffy's arm and her blade in a circular motion. Buffy's eyes turned a vibrant shade of violet and she slowly walked towards the crumpled form of Kenpachi as the clouds overhead followed her on her short journey. As she stared down at the unmoving man below her, she was unable to control her actions as she felt her arm clutch her zanpakuto tightly and aim it at Kenpachi's throat.

"Stop it!" Yachiru shouted as she moved in front of Kenpachi and looked up at Buffy in fear.

"Move out of the way," Buffy ordered in a voice that was not her own. Instead this voice was laced with malice and sounded almost 'demonic'.

Just as Buffy was about to push Yachiru out of the way herself, she felt a heavy hand on her shoulder.

Whirling around, Buffy locked eyes with her captain, "That's enough Buffy, control yourself!" he shouted at her.

"I am uncontrolled and will stay that way long after you are buried underneath this earth," Buffy heard herself say in the same malicious, demonic voice.

Gripping both of her shoulders in his hands, Kensei gave her a pleading look as he searched for some sign of the Buffy he knew within her eyes. Closing her eyes, Buffy fought against whatever force had possessed her and opened her eyes to reveal her normal green orbs. As she blinked in confusion, Buffy couldn't help herself as she collapsed against her captain's chest. Wrapping his arms around her and lifting her against his chest, he looked down as Yachiru examined her captain closely.

"Is he alive?" Kensei asked as he felt Buffy bury her face into his neck.

"Of course he is," Yachiru said darkly, "No one can kill Ken-chan," she declared even though the look of fear in her eyes said otherwise.

"Get him to the fourth division and don't mention this incident to anyone until I figure out just what the hell happened here," Kensei demanded as he left Yachiru with her captain and flash-stepped with Buffy back to his office.

Dropping Buffy onto the couch in his quarters, Kensei attempted to wake her up, but it was useless. She wouldn't stir. Summoning a hell butterfly, Kensei quickly whispered a message to it before allowing it to fly off into the night. Seconds later, he heard his office door slam opened and the captains of the 5th and 3rd division entered his office and made their way over to where Buffy was passed out on the couch.

"So what happened exactly?" Shinji questioned as Kensei recounted the battle to his comrades.

"A demonic voice?" Rose questioned in confusion, "Sounds scary."

Shinji couldn't help but agree with that, "Sounds familiar," he added and watched Kensei nod.

"Which is why I called you two here. Do you think she could have a hollow within her?" he asked looking down at his third seat.

"No...everything you described definitely sounds otherworldly and scary, but it doesn't sound like a hollow," Shinji answered and heard Kensei release a huge sigh of relief.

"Don't relax just yet, Kensei, we have no idea what this means. For all we know this could be ten times worse than Buffy having an untamed hollow within her."

"Did you guys feel any insane level of spiritual pressure during the last half hour?" Kensei questioned as he chose to ignore Shinji's comment for the moment.

"No," Rose replied and let his eyes trail over the still form of Buffy, "Why? Did her spiritual pressure increase by a lot?"

"No, which is what worries me even more," Kensei revealed, "Did you guys happen to notice a storm form over my division?"

"No," Shinji answered, "So either we really don't pay attention to your division or Buffy's attacks were pretty localized."

"She was filled with rage," Kensei breathed as he looked over at Buffy, "I could feel it rolling off of her in waves...it was unlike anything I had ever seen or felt before."

"And you said her eyes changed color?"

"Yeah...they were violet for a while."

"Considering you said she was pretty confused after it happened, it's obviously one of the unknown powers that the Powers that Be gave her," Shinji stated, using air quotes as he said 'The Powers that Be'.

"Yeah, definitely," Kensei agreed, "But if the Powers that Be gave her that power, it has to be safe right? They wouldn't just shove some dark force into her and send her on her way, would they?"

"Who knows," Rose shrugged, "They probably wouldn't, but we really don't know anything about the Powers that Be other than the fact that they're a pretty good staffing company for the captain commander."

"I would just keep a close eye on her Kensei. She obviously doesn't have a lot of control over that power, and you somehow stopped her from killing Kenpachi, which means that you might be able to stop her from killing anyone else, should the situation arise."

Kensei nodded and ran a hand nervously through his hair, "What the hell am I supposed to say to her when she wakes up? Hey Buffy! Remember how you nearly murdered Kenpachi this afternoon and then spoke in a demonic voice before blacking out?"

"Don't say anything to her, just let her start the conversation. See if she remembers what happened," Rose suggested and Shinji agreed.

"If she remembers, she'll probably be horrified. Should I tell her about the vizards? It might help her cope," Kensei asked.

Kensei then looked down in surprise as Shinji suddenly grabbed the hem of his robes in his fist and growled at him, "Don't you fucking dare tell her about the vizards. Are you fucking insane, Kensei? You'll drive her away completely."

"What do you mean?" Rose asked, not knowing what the hell was going on between them.

"Buffy was killed by Grimmjow in the living world, Rose. She was killed by a high ranking espada and hollow that Ichigo - and possibly soul society - is working with. Do you think if Kensei approaches her with 'Hey, it's okay that you might have a demon inside of you, I have an espada-level hollow residing within me' she's going to take it lightly?" he paused and released Kensei from his grasp, "She's going to bolt. Who could possibly trust someone that is of the same species as their murderer?

"But we're not," Rose defended, "We're only half hollow."

"Do you really think that's going to hold up in Buffy-court, Rose?" Shinji snapped at him and the captain in questioned closed his mouth.

Shinji stopped speaking as he watched the anguished look that passed over Kensei's features. Shinji sighed and placed a hand on Kensei's shoulder, "Look, Kensei, in time, you should definitely tell her, but right now the best thing that you can possibly do is keep that a secret and instead help her overcome the struggle that she is guaranteed to have with her new power."

Nodding, Kensei looked back at Shinji and Rose, "Let's try and keep this between the three of us for now. I doubt Yama-jii would be happy if he knew Buffy was packing a power that she couldn't control."

The other two captains nodded their heads in understanding and left Kensei's office after agreeing to keep Buffy's power a secret. After they left, Kensei sighed heavily as he looked down at Buffy's unconscious form. Leaning over her, he brushed some hair out of her face before pressing a light kiss to her temple. He was definitely going to have to watch her more closely. That was for sure.


	6. Wild

**A/N:**Andddddd the action begins!

My goodness...every single chapter so far has included a fight scene. Either I really love chaos and bloodshed or, in this type of fic, battles are inevitable.

I'm choosing to go with the latter, lol.

This chapter is a bit shorter than the previous two, but it's still clocking in at around 6,000 words, so it's not too much shorter.

* * *

||**Chapter 6**: Wild||

* * *

Buffy woke up with groan and felt like she had been hit by a train. What the hell had happened to her? Looking down at the new bandages that graced her body, the memories of the previous day's battle suddenly came flooding back to her. As her eyes widened in panic, she bolted off of the couch that she was occupying and collided with Kensei. Stunned by the sudden collision, Kensei reached out and steadied Buffy with his arms. As she studied his features for any sign of fear, she was relieved to notice that he seemed to be pretty calm this morning, meaning that Kenpachi was not, in fact, dead. Feeling herself relax, Buffy let a loud sigh escape her lips as she looked up at her captain.

"Kenpachi's okay?" she asked quietly and sighed again as he nodded at her.

"What about you?" he countered as his gaze took in the new bandages covering her body. Before Buffy could protest, Kensei began unwrapping the bandages to check her wounds and then started the process of cleaning and redressing them with some medical supplies that were haphazardly spread out onto the coffee table.

"I'm fine...I think," Buffy hissed as Kensei dabbed cleaning solution against the wound on her shoulder.

"Good," he replied and Buffy noticed that he was purposely not bringing up the 'incident' that had occurred the day before.

"Why are you avoiding the obvious?" she snapped and Kensei paused in his actions as he glanced up at her in surprise.

"What do you mean?"

"You know exactly what I mean. I went all crazy and demon-y yesterday and you're pretending like it didn't even happen."

"You remember everything?"

"Of course I do! How could I not? I pretty much channeled every comic book hero in the universe and went haywire."

"Do you know what happened to cause you to act that way?" Kensei questioned as he wrapped medical gauze around Buffy's shoulder blade and secured it with tape.

"I got angry that I managed to get wounded...and then I got angrier...and then I kind of just exploded with rage," she finished lamely.

"So no voices in your head or any sudden possessions?" Kensei asked.

"No voices in my head, but I was definitely out of my body," Buffy answered.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean I literally couldn't control myself. I could see and feel everything that was happening, but it was like something or someone else was performing my actions for me. It was...weird. And really terrifying," she added, shuddering as she remembered the incident.

"Your eyes changed color," Kensei commented as he slid his hand beneath the top of Buffy's robes and began to gently prod different areas of her chest, checking for broken ribs.

Buffy flushed at his ministrations before she winced in pain as Kensei prodded an extremely sore area of her chest. Apologizing briefly, Kensei continued his examination and Buffy tilted her head to the side to gaze at him, "What color were they?"

"Violet," he replied and removed his hand from her robes.

"Hmm, interesting...and my voice changed too."

"I know...that was...pretty frightening," he said slowly, "It sounded almost demonic."

"Well I 'do' have a demon inside of me," she commented offhandedly and made to rise before Kensei snatched her wrist and she stilled.

"What?" he demanded searching her face for any sign that she was joking.

"I have a demon inside of me. It's sort of a package deal with the whole slayer power thing."

"Why didn't you tell me about this?" he questioned softly.

"I thought you already knew," she answered honestly, "I just assumed that the captain commander had filled you in on all of my slayerness before we met."

"Not that aspect," he said with a shake of his head, "Do you think that whatever power the Powers that Be gave you somehow affected your control over that side of you?"

"It's possible," Buffy confirmed, "After all, the Powers that Fuck Things Up love to push my buttons."

Grinning at her latter comment, Kensei released her wrist, "We'll need to watch out for that power," he said seriously.

"I know," Buffy breathed, "I may need you to take me down if things get out of hand," she responded just as seriously.

"It won't go that far," Kensei declared, even though he was unsure of his own statement.

"It might, and if it does, I need to know that you'll be willing and ready to take me out," Buffy said quietly as she pulled him closer to her, her faces only inches from his.

"Not gonna happen," he stated again as he pressed his lips roughly against hers.

Buffy wrapped her arms around his neck as Kensei lifted her into his lap. Ignoring the pain that jolted through her shoulder at her own actions, she deepened the kiss and closed her eyes, savoring the taste of her captain on her lips. As Kensei broke their kiss, Buffy gasped as his lips travelled up her neck, planting kisses along the way, before he kissed a sensitive area of skin behind Buffy's ear. Nuzzling her neck, Kensei slipped his hands into Buffy's robes and slid them up her spine. Buffy shuddered at the sensation before pressing her lips back to Kensei's and slipping his captain's coat off of his shoulders. As Kensei hoisted Buffy into the air, against his chest, he made three short strides to the door of his bedroom before a loud banging sounded against his office door.

"Oh for fuck's sake," Kensei growled in annoyance as he was cock-blocked for the second time in two days.

"Just ignore whoever it is," Buffy breathed against his ear.

Kensei was considering doing just that until he heard the words that were shouted loudly through his door, "Open the fucking door, Muguruma, I know you're in there."

Buffy stilled as she heard the 11th division captain's voice and she immediately removed herself from her position in Kensei's arms.

Cursing at the sudden lack of woman in his arms, Kensei watched as Buffy made her way across the room. Before she could swing open his door, Kensei quickly threw his captain's cloak back on and watched as Buffy opened the door to reveal a heavily bandaged Kenpachi.

"Summers," Kenpachi greeted with a devilish grin, "Exactly the person I wanted to see. Get in here Madarame, Ayasegawa," Kenpachi hollered as he stomped his way further into Kensei's office.

"Why. are. you. here?" Kensei growled slowly at the offending giant in his office.

"Is that any way to treat a guest? Besides, you're lucky I'm shutting the hell up about yesterday," Kenpachi retorted and Buffy looked at her feet in guilt while Kensei visibly paled.

"Not that I would tell anyone anyway...I'm keeping this little gem to myself," he added as he gestured towards Buffy.

Buffy watched as a bald shinigami entered the room, flanked by a rather feminine-looking male shinigami with short black hair. Buffy suddenly felt like she was an exhibit in her mother's gallery as the feminine man stood in front of her and gave her the once over.

"So this is the 'whirling demon of mass-destruction' you told us about this morning?" he inquired as he looked Buffy over once more.

"That's not how I described her you damn idiot!" Kenpachi yelled at his subordinate before Madarame joined his comrade in analyzing Buffy.

"Well...she has attractive features, so I guess this is acceptable," Yumichika confirmed as he batted his eyelashes at her. Buffy felt her cheeks becoming red with embarrassment.

"This tiny woman is the one that struck you down without so much as a blink of an eye?" Madarame questioned as he stood closer to Buffy and eyed her as if she would explode into the rage-filled demon from the day before without any warning.

"She's more powerful than she looks," Kenpachi confirmed as he nodded appreciatively at Buffy.

Buffy groaned and mentally rolled her eyes at the trio. If she had known her battle with Kenpachi would result in a fan club in her honor, she would have never given him the satisfaction of having his ass handed to him. Buffy looked over at Kensei, who was watching the scene with a fair amount of annoyance. Buffy couldn't help but share his feelings to some extent. If it hadn't been for the interruption of the trio, they could have engaged in 'other' activities this morning.

"Was there a point in you coming all the way over here?" Kensei demanded from across the room.

"Of course there was," Yumichika stated as if it was obvious as to why they were there, "We had to come and see the captain's new hero for ourselves."

"Tone it down, fancy-pants," Kenpachi growled at his subordinate.

"Sure, sure, captain," Yumichika smiled as he wrapped an arm around Buffy's shoulders, "I think we're going to be very good friends, Buffy," he stated before deciding that 'Buffy' was a rather unattractive name, "Summers," he stated instead and decided that that was way more beautiful of a name.

"Let's not get all touchy feely when I barely know you," Buffy stated as she moved away from him.

"Are you busy today?" Madarame questioned her suddenly as he raised his arms above his head and stretched.

"Yes. She is," Kensei said from across the room and Buffy watched as Madarame's eyes narrowed at him.

"I wasn't asking you, captain," he sneered before looking back at Buffy.

"I'm busy today," Buffy affirmed and watched as Madarame's face fell into a frown.

"Well, then I guess we'll have to set up a time to battle later," Madarame vowed and Kenpachi's face lit up at the notion.

"We're leaving," he announced before stomping out of the office just as noisily as he entered, his subordinates following him out the door and slamming it behind them.

"Oh my god, now I have fan boys," Buffy stated as she turned towards her captain.

"Hmm, as long as they aren't reporting the incident, I think we can put up with a little fan club."

"You're not the one that has to suffer through it," Buffy said and planted a finger in the center of his chest.

"Technically I do since you're my subordinate," Kensei replied and planted a kiss on her forehead.

"Well then I guess it's fair," Buffy replied and turned as Hisagi walked through the door, carrying a stack of papers.

"Captain, Buffy," he greeted and set the papers down on Kensei's desk, "Bad news - apparently Ichigo ran into some of the super vamps down in the living world."

"What?" Buffy said alarmed as Hisagi waved her fears away.

"He beat them, but, it's definitely not a good sign that they are now infiltrating Karakura Town. With all of the defenseless people around, it's pretty much a giant buffet for the vampires."

"No kidding," Kensei replied as he plucked one of the papers from the stack and read over it.

"Right now the captain commander is forming a group to be stationed in Karakura town."

"Who is he sending?" Kensei asked curiously as he signed off on a couple of papers from the stack.

"Matsumoto, Madarame, Yumichika, Renji, Rukia, and captain Kuchiki."

"That's a random group of people," Kensei commented as he signed off on a few more papers.

"Apparently Ichigo had a hand in the selection," Hisagi said offhandedly as he turned towards Buffy, "You're injured."

"Rough day of training," Buffy lied easily before seating herself on the edge of Kensei's desk, "How many super vamps were in Karakura town?"

"The report stated that Ichigo had defeated three of them, why?"

Buffy took this in, "Because the number of super vamps around here is becoming more and more scarce, which makes me think that Karakura town is devil-mask's new hideaway for his little project."

"But why would he obviously let his vampires run around Karakura town if he was trying to hide his 'project' as you call it."

"He's not trying to hide his project," Buffy realized as fear suddenly gripped her heart, "He's creating a distraction in Karakura town. We have to tell the captain commander not to dispatch the Karakura team," Buffy said suddenly.

"Why?" both Kensei and Hisagi questioned simultaneously.

"Because devil-mask is hiding the majority of his vampire army somewhere here, underground, in the heart of soul society. If he only just dispatched some of the super vamps to Karakura town last night, then that means he's planning to drop a surprise attack here. The Karakura vamps were just a distraction for Ichigo to handle so that our energies would be focused on Karakura town for the time being."

"When is he planning on dropping the attack?" Kensei demanded as he stood from his chair.

Buffy looked out the window of the 9th division's headquarters just as the sky darkened to a jet black and Buffy and her companions were cast into darkness, "Now," she responded as fear clutched her heart. She adjusted her eyes to the lighting quickly, and moved to the front door of Kensei's office before yanking it open and peering out into the darkness ahead. Looking up at the sky, she noticed that the sun - which has been there only moments before - was completely blotted out in favor of the surrounding darkness.

"Where are you going? Stay here until we can figure something out," Kensei all but yelled at her as he moved towards her and yanked her away from the door.

"If we stay here, then we're pretty much asking for our division's members to be slaughtered," Buffy snapped at him in frustration.

"How the hell is this happening?" Hisagi said somewhere from behind them, "It was sunny only a few minutes ago!"

"Vampires can't drop surprise attacks in the sun," Buffy responded.

"How does this guy have enough power to blot out the sun?" Kensei groaned angrily.

"I don't know, but we really need to get moving. We're more or less fucked right now," Buffy said as she wrapped her hand around Kensei's wrist and yanked her captain out the door behind her, "Let's go Hisagi!" she added as she moved just outside the barracks.

"Captain! What is going on?" Buffy heard the voice of Kura shout as she turned around to see the division members spilling out of their respective quarters, creating a flood of noise in their wake.

"Our enemy has arrived in soul society. Be prepared for anything and don't let your guard down," Kensei demanded, addressing his division, "The 9th division patrol team should especially be on high alert. Take care of the rest of your members, as you have more experience than them in dealing with this level of threat."

As he said the last part of his declaration, Buffy watched as the patrol team in question gathered at the forefront of the crowd and listened to their captain intently. Buffy honestly had no idea how Kensei was keeping so calm at a time like this. Internally, she was pretty much freaking out, and externally her 'flight and fight' drive was pretty much going into overdrive at the desire to engage in battle and protect her division members. But she guessed that was why Kensei was the 9th division captain and not herself. He was well-equipped and experienced in dealing with situations like this.

"Don't stray too much from the 9th division during this battle. I want to keep as much of an eye on you guys as I possibly can," Kensei paused and looked over his frightened division before continuing, "Don't be afraid. Persevere and keep your heads up at all times. The enemy can only strike you down if you don't believe in the power of your own sword," Kensei turned around and looked in the darkness ahead of him.

Buffy turned around to look as well. It seemed that - along with the absence of the sun - any sort of lighting that was usually outdoors to illuminate the area for late-night patrol teams was also gone. It was a complete, full-scale, power outage. It was the perfect environment for a vampire to conduct a series of attacks. It was also the perfect environment for a slayer to defend against a series of attacks, but Buffy knew she couldn't protect everyone. There were going to be people that were killed and she could do nothing to stop that. As a glimmer of light suddenly caught her eyes, Buffy turned back around to see that several members of her division were currently lighting up fire kidos in order to see in the darkness.

Buffy suddenly smiled at that. Maybe her division would be alright after all. They were certainly resourceful, at the very least. As Buffy's attention was led away once again, she saw a blur of motion to her right and was horrified to see a female vampire appear behind Kura and wrap her hands around his neck. Before Buffy could move, she heard a 'crunch' as the vampire snapped Kura's neck in half and then carelessly tossed his corpse to the ground. Then again, maybe her division 'wouldn't' be alright. She heard a collective gasp and a few horrified shrieks from her division, and then a low growl as Kensei flung himself at the vampire. He was furious. Buffy could only look between the lifeless corpse of the 4th seat division - and her former friend - and her captain as he attacked the vampire in a flurry of clashing metal and fists pounding against flesh. Who's flesh, Buffy had no idea, but she really hoped it wasn't Kensei's.

As the vampire exploded into a shower of dust, Buffy watched as Kensei panted heavily, struggling to regain his breath. She also noticed that he had several cuts marring his skin and that a thin stream of blood was pouring out of the side of his mouth. Moving towards him in concern, Kensei suddenly snapped his head up and put his hand gently out in front of her to stop her from coming over.

"I'm fine," he breathed as he looked up at her and wiped his mouth with his robes.

"Really?" Buffy asked in annoyance as she eyed her battered captain once more.

Before she could say anything else, however, the area erupted around her in chaos as several blurs poured into the area at once. Unsheathing her zanpakuto in alarm, Buffy heard the others do the same as they were immediately thrust into the heat of battle. Slicing a cut into the vampire on Buffy's right, she was suddenly thrown against Hisagi as another vampire crashed into her back. As Buffy rolled off of him, she quickly muttered an apology before hoisting him up alongside of her and continuing her onslaught against the vampires. It was a struggle. The vampires that were currently encircling the area were unfathomably strong and fast. They were landing blows to Buffy's tiny frame that could have easily landed her in the hospital if she wasn't who she was.

Looking around her, Buffy was alarmed to see that her division members were dropping one-by-one either dead or severely wounded. They were largely unprepared to fight against this kind of manpower, but Buffy knew that whoever their true enemy was, he had intended for the fights to be this way. As she watched more of her comrades drop - while continuing to slaughter as many vampires as she could - she was suddenly reminded of her battle against the First and its army of uber vamps. She almost wished that she could return to that battle, because the vampires in that battle now seemed like tiny kittens with fangs in comparison.

Decapitating a vampire in front of her while simultaneously staking another behind her, Buffy searched for her captain in the fray and momentarily locked eyes with him, "We need to retreat, now!"

"Retreat where, Buffy? The vampires are everywhere," Kensei shouted at her as a fist connected with his stomach and he was suddenly winded.

As Buffy looked beyond her division, she found that her captain was right. Smoke was now billowing out of several divisions in the distance as flames roared into the blackened sky. As she scanned the rooftops of soul society, she could see several blurs moving along the rooftops at an alarming pace. Some were clearly shinigami, while others were clearly vampires. There was literally no escaping the vampires. Their enemy had purposely set this up to be a complete massacre.

"Kurosaki Ichigo just arrived in soul society," Buffy heard her lieutenant shout over the sounds of clashing metal and loud 'booms' as division members attempted to blow up the vampires.

"Watch the buildings!" she heard Kensei shout at his subordinates, "Where is he?" he added as he looked over to where Hisagi was defending an attack from a vampire, while trying not to let the hell butterfly escape from his grasp.

"Near the sixth division," Hisagi replied and then looked over at Buffy, "The captain commander wants you to focus your efforts on finding whoever is behind this."

"I can't just leave here," Buffy retorted as she dusted another vamp.

"You can, and you will," Kensei roared over the sound of another 'boom' that exploded the door to his office, "Damn it, Shuyin, I said watch out for the buildings!"

"Sorry, captain!" came the muffled reply somewhere behind Buffy.

"If I leave here, I can't protect you guys," Buffy declared as she flipped over the back of a vampire before tossing him into another one. The action sent both vampires spiraling towards a blazing fire in the ground that one of the division members had created. As she watched them light up in flames and quickly turn to dust, she whipped her head around to glare at Kensei.

"We can take care of ourselves. Focus on finding that bastard so we can put an end to this thing," Kensei howled at her and threw himself back into the fray.

Buffy sighed as she turned towards the chaos ahead of her. She couldn't really argue with his logic. Shouting a quick, 'Fine, see you later' in her captain's direction she moved away from her own division and started to head north. She was hoping against hope that Kensei and Hisagi would be able to protect the division on their own and come out of the battle relatively unscathed. As she stood in between the 10th division and the 11th, Buffy attempted to see if she could sense any otherworldly spiritual pressure in the area. It was a nearly impossible effort, however, because between the spiritual pressures of the many shinigami surrounding the area and the explosion of her spider senses at the presence of the vampires, her senses were pretty much overwhelmed.

Hearing a shout behind her, Buffy spun around to see Madarame flying in her direction with the force of an attack. Acting without thinking, Buffy caught the flying man in her arms and the duo thudded to the ground. Pushing the male off of her, Buffy stood and looked to see if she could find his attacker, but she noticed that the vampire that had attacked Madarame had already moved on to another member of his division. Sighing as she scanned the area once more, Buffy looked down at Madarame with a hand on her hip.

"You could try being more careful, you know," she said sarcastically.

"Right, because the first thought in my head was to be punched by a vampire and sent careening into you," he sneered, just as sarcastically.

"How's your captain holding up?" Buffy asked with a roll of her eyes.

"Just fine. He's enjoying the fight," the bald headed man replied before springing to his own feet, "I'll catch you later, Summers. I would love to stay and chat, but fighting seems much more interesting."

Buffy watched as he left before she continued making her way around the divisions, careful to avoid any heavy battles, in her search for the enemy. As she looped back around and passed her division once more, Buffy flash-stepped in and out of the divisions before she paused at the 6th division. Looking around at yet another battle, she easily spotted Ichigo in the fray, sending wave after wave of a black-and-red energy at the vampires with his zanpakuto. She watched as it swirled around the vampires before hitting them directly and causing them to explode into ash. 'Yes,' Buffy thought, 'Ichigo will definitely be invaluable in this fight.' If the teenager could down the vampires so easily, then he had her vote for MVP in this battle. Locking eyes with the teenager in question, Buffy watched as he opened his mouth and shouted "Duck," at her. Dropping immediately to her stomach on the ground, Buffy watched as another wave of red-black energy sailed over her head and she was covered in ash. Rising to her feet and wiping the dust from her hair and robes, Buffy shouted a quick , "Thanks," to her comrade before making her way over to him, dusting vampires along the way.

"Any sign of devil-mask?" she asked as a small woman came into her field of vision and used her shikai to trap vampires in several towers of ice. Once she flicked her zanpakuto, Buffy watched as the ice shattered and some of the vampires turned to dust. Some of the vampires didn't turn to dust, however, and Buffy could only assume that those vampires were infinitely stronger than the others.

"No...Rukia and I have been looking out for him, but it seems that he's taking more of an observer role in this fight," Ichigo replied and gestured to the tiny woman on his right.

"Hmmm, that's always good," Buffy remarked and then slung her zanpakuto over her shoulder, "So much for that espada's 'warning of danger'," she said sarcastically and watched as Ichigo scowled.

"What espada's 'warning of danger'?" Buffy heard from a voice above her.

Looking up, Buffy saw a man with a wooden devil-mask - complete with horns - holding a very clearly trapped, teal-haired espada at his side.

"Oh, you mean his? Well...he's a little lip-locked at the moment, so I guess he couldn't really help you out," the man replied and Buffy's eyes widened as she saw that the teal-haired man's lips were sewn shut.

"This of course, is the consequence for tattle-telling," the man said again before shoving the espada roughly off of the roof.

"Grimmjow!" Buffy heard Ichigo shout behind her as attempted to help the espada stand.

Locking her eyes with the espada in question, Buffy could now clearly see that the espada was the one that had killed her not too long ago. Narrowing her eyes in rage, Buffy shoved Ichigo to the side and unleashed an attack on the defenseless espada, that left him with a bloody gash in his upper chest.

"Buffy, stop it! He's on our side," she heard Ichigo shout and she whirled on him.

"On our side? That's the idiot that killed me," she screamed at him and watched as his eyes lit up in shock.

"You killed her?" he asked Grimmjow, who could only nod in pain, considering that his lips were still sewn shut.

Buffy watched as the espada in question used Ichigo's momentary distraction to grab his zanpakuto and cut a clear line over his lips, that detached the stitches from them. Throwing the zanpakuto back at the bewildered shinigami, Grimmjow stood and took in the sight of Buffy with mild interest.

"It's not like I wanted to kill you. I hate performing missions," he added bitterly, "That idiot up there made me do it," he gestured towards the top of the 6th division barracks, where the masked man was currently watching the exchange in silence.

"I don't really give a shit. You killed me," Buffy pointed out with a venomous glare.

"Fair enough. Kill me if you want, but I really think you should be focusing your efforts elsewhere," the espada said honestly as his eyes drifted upwards once more.

Letting a low growl escape her lips, Buffy sighed in defeat, relenting that the espada was probably right, "I'll kill you later," she promised as she set her sights on the man above.

"I'm so sorry to disappoint, slayer, but I don't intend to fight you on this...dark and cloudy day..." the man interjected and Buffy could tell that he was smirking behind his mask.

"Well, I'm sorry to disappoint, but you don't really have a choice," she grit out as she flew towards him. Watching in alarm as he dissappeared, Buffy turned to look at the others.

"Where did he -" before she could say 'go', a force hit her like a ton of bricks and suddenly she was flying through the air. As soon as she landed, she could see that she was well outside of soul society and deep into the forest surrounding it. Coughing up blood, Buffy heaved as she felt her ribs protest against the action. They were clearly broken. Buffy briefly felt sorry for her ribs, as this was pretty much the 3rd day in a row that they had been so cruelly battered. Struggling to force herself into a standing position, Buffy heard laughing from immediately in front of her and looked to see devil-mask leering down at her.

"That was fun," he commented and before Buffy could move, he had wrapped a hand roughly around her throat, closing her air waves.

"Buffy Summers. Resident vampire slayer of Sunnydale, California for almost ten years," the man rattled on about her former occupation. Buffy narrowed her eyes, wondering how he knew so much about her.

"I always thought you were very admirable. The way that you took on the forces of darkness, all on your own...well...until this past year at least. I have to admit, I was very disappointed that you willingly released your own power."

Buffy was forced to look into his red orbs as he pressed his face closer to hers, "My subordinate was a fool for allowing you to conduct those plans," he breathed against her face, and Buffy winced in disgusted as the hot air passed over her.

"Wha...ar...ou...alking, 'bout?" Buffy forced out as she felt her face turning blue.

She was immediately released and tossed to the ground, "My apologies...I'm getting a bit reckless it seems," he laughed at himself before running a gloved hand over his head, "I nearly killed you."

"What do you mean by your subordinate allowed me to give up my full power?" Buffy gasped as she greedily took in the air around her.

"Buffy, please, do you really think the monster you encountered was the First evil? He was weak and foolish."

Buffy's eyes widened in horror as she glanced up at the man, "You're not - you can't be!" she declared in panic.

"Oh, but I am," the masked man replied seriously, "I know I don't look it...considering the body I was forced to possess," he paused and gestured to the stupid outfit he was wearing, "But I am."

"There's nothing that you can do to stop this war, slayer. I had you killed on purpose, knowing that the Powers that Be would thrust you into soul society."

"Why?" Buffy breathed as she continued to analyze her enemy.

"Because I wanted the satisfaction of killing you myself," he declared and moved so that he was standing directly above her.

"Don't worry slayer...I'm not going to kill you today, or even during the second wave of my war. I'm going to wait until all of your friends are mercilessly slaughtered at the hands of my army and then," he paused and reached down to stroke Buffy's hair, almost lovingly, "I'm going to come back for you, and kill you with my bare hands."

Buffy knocked the First's hand away angrily, "There's no fucking way I'll let that happen!"

"You don't have a choice," he commented as he wrapped a hand around her chin and forced her to look up at him, "Even now, as we stand here in this forest, your division members and the members of other divisions are being killed. One after the other. By my own creations."

Gulping in fear, Buffy howled in pain as her opponent twisted her arm above her head and snapped it, breaking it easily, "Your captains will survive, however, as will your lieutenants. I never expected them to be taken down so easily by a couple of my super vamps, as you call them."

"By the time dawn arrives tomorrow," he continued as his nails dug into her arm and drew blood, "Your precious soul society will be in ruin. But I will be kind, slayer," he stated as he roughly yanked her hair backwards, "I won't kick a puppy once it's down. I will wait until your beloved soul society has rebuilt itself and has had time to mourn its fallen before my army strikes again."

"Fuck you," Buffy spat bitterly and was backhanded across the face. She would have been flung into a tree if it was not for the steady grip that the First had around her arm.

"Tsk, Tsk, slayer, that's no way to treat someone who is being so kind to you. I thought your mother raised you better," the First sneered into her face.

"Don't you dare talk about my mother," Buffy snapped and heard the First laugh above her.

"Unfortunately, Buffy, I cannot allow you to run back to soul society and help your friends. I need you to be destroyed here," he tapped her head, "And here," he tapped her heart, "Before I devour your last breath on this earth," he finished and Buffy shrunk back in fear.

"Relax, Buffy, it's not like I'm going to kill you - yet," he added as he moved behind her.

Buffy flew to her feet and attempted to flash-step away but she was roughly yanked back by her hair and tossed to the ground without so much as a thought. As she moved further away from her opponent, she whimpered as he grabbed her left leg. Dragging her closer to him, Buffy let out a scream of pain as he easily snapped her femur, breaking the leg with ease. Before she could make sense of what he was about to do next, he broke the femur bone of her right leg as well. Screeching in pain, Buffy silently prayed that whatever power had come over her the day before would return to her now. But it was useless, she couldn't even sense a glimmer of the demonic power that had gripped her body the day before. Screaming until her throat was raw, Buffy could only lay flat on her stomach as the First broke both of her arms and dislocated both of her shoulders.

"Now you shouldn't be able to walk, or crawl, back to them," the First said from above her before roughly kicking her in her already broken ribs a few times, causing Buffy to cough up more blood.

"That should do it. I'll see you later slayer," the First said and before Buffy could do anything, he planted a steel fist into the side of her head, knocking her out cold.


	7. Never End

**A/N: **I know that the First isn't exactly a he or a she...but I'm going to be referring to the First as a 'he' because of the body it is possessing.

** LindseyXZ: **Kenpachi ruins everything, haha. And yes, Buffy might definitely bolt ;o). All of the fight scenes in this fic will tend to be pretty dark and violent, only because of the tone of the fic, unfortunately. In fact, I'm probably going to have to rate it 'M' soon because of the violence, cursing, and the lemons that will come later.

** Fanatic-FanGirl: **Buffy definitely did not get any sleep during that time, haha. They had her patrolling and training non-stop. You're absolutely right though, Buffy will be causing mega-damage in her fights if she happens to accidentally succumb to the power within her. She'll need to be careful :o). Kensei definitely fits in to Buffy's habit of picking guys with a dark side to them ;oP. And I will explain more about the First in this chapter!

* * *

||Chapter 7: Never End ||

* * *

Hearing birds chirping from somewhere up above, Buffy opened her eyes to see that the sun was shining high in the sky, but water was raining down upon her with a vengeance in the form of a sun shower. Groaning painfully, Buffy attempted to move, but found that it was nearly impossible because her bones had yet to heal. Pushing herself up gingerly, Buffy let out a whimper of pain and sunk back into the earth below her. The events of the previous day plagued Buffy's mind and she could only help but wonder how many of her division members - and those of other divisions - had died. Snapping her head to the side, Buffy heard a rustling through the trees as she spotted a deer walking around before her. Closing her eyes, Buffy quickly made a painful turn of her body so that she was now lying on her back. Her limbs hung at awkward angles beside her, and she prayed that they would heal soon before she was forced to spend another night out here. Musing on her current situation, she was surprised that no vampires had tried to drain her during the night. She guessed that the First had forced them not to so that he could kill her himself. Rolling her eyes at the thought, Buffy attempted to lift herself off the ground once more, with no success. There was too much pain in the action, and even if she was somehow successful, she knew that trying to walk on her broken limbs would only make the healing process take longer.

Suddenly, Buffy had another idea. Lifting her zanpakuto from its resting place at her side, Buffy shakily thrusted it into the air, "Light up the sky, Sineya."

Watching as bolts of lightning flashed outwards from her sword and high into the sky, Buffy tried to hold them there are long as possible, attempting to use her shikai's ability as a flare of sorts. After Buffy's broken arm caved under the weight of her zanpakuto, she hissed in pain and attempted to wipe her soaked hair out of her eyes. Several minutes later, Buffy watched as a figure emerged into the clearing. Looking up, she saw Kensei make his way over to her. His robes were shredded to such an extent that only his pants were remaining on his body. His chest was also littered with cuts and bruises. Sighing up at her captain, she closed her eyes as she was suddenly lifted into a sitting position, against her captain's chest.

"He must have been pretty strong to cripple you so easily," Kensei murmured against her ear as he placed one hand firmly on her left, dislocated, shoulder and the other grasped her broken arm tightly, "I'm sorry, but this is going to hurt like hell," he confessed and then quickly shoved Buffy's shoulder back in place with a 'pop'. Buffy cried out in pain and threw her head against his chest as he repeated the process with her other shoulder.

"We need to get you to the fourth and take care of the other breaks," he said quietly.

"How many?" Buffy asked, ignoring his comment.

"How many what?" Kensei asked, even though he knew what she was referring to.

"How many are dead?" Buffy said in anguish as she looked up at him through heavy eyes.

"In our division, 10," Kensei replied and Buffy buried her face into his shoulder, "In the other divisions...more. We were one of the luckier ones," he replied bitterly.

"I failed," she whispered and felt Kensei rub soothing circles into her back.

"You didn't fail," he said as he kissed the back of her neck, "For starters, everyone had a role to play during this battle and we all did the best we could. Secondly, we were completely ambushed. We had no idea what to expect and - as a result - we were pretty unprepared for it despite our training efforts. Finally," he said as he brushed hair out of her face, "The enemy is just a lot stronger than we thought."

"A lot stronger," Buffy agreed and looked up at him again, "Kensei I've faced this thing before," she confessed.

"You have? What is he?" Kensei asked, looking down at her.

"Well...technically I defeated his subordinate before," Buffy corrected herself as she thought back to her battle against what she thought was the First.

"So our enemy was that guy's superior?"

"Yes," Buffy hissed through her teeth as she continued to feel the throbbing pain in her joints, "It's the First."

"The first what? The first of its kind?" Kensei asked, confused.

"No, Kensei, the First evil," Buffy attempted to lift herself once more, but Kensei cradled her more closely to his chest, "The first evil to ever walk the earth...or kind of float around it," she reflected after a minute.

"Okay...so we're dealing with something really powerful then," Kensei confirmed as he tried to comprehend the situation.

"We're dealing with more than something incredibly powerful, Kensei," Buffy snapped as her gaze burned holes into his, "The First's 'subordinate' easily took out half of my girls back at home, and that was 'after' I gave them a huge chunk of my power. The only way we managed to win that battle was because Spike's amulet-thing blew apart and created a huge crater in the earth where Sunnydale once stood."

"Okay...so we just get another one of those amulets," he answered.

"We can't just do that Kensei, are you even understanding what I'm saying?" she snapped again and then calmed down at the surprised look he gave her.

"I'm sorry. It's just, even if we 'did' somehow get another amulet, which, I don't even know where we would find another one, someone would have to be wielding a lot of power and be willing to sacrifice their life for us to even use it. Plus, you know, the resulting explosion would completely wipe out soul society."

"So then how do we beat this thing? Especially if you're telling me that this guy is packing more power than his subordinate."

"I don't know," Buffy confessed sadly, "Kensei, he told me that this first attack was basically launched just so that he could instill a little bit of fear within soul society. He said that the attack had no real meaning behind it other than to knock off a few of the weaker shinigami and -" she paused and pressed her face back into his shoulder, "To make the rest of us, but namely me, feel like shit for letting the attack happen."

Kensei was silent as he comprehended her words. Buffy gazed back up at him questioningly before he ran a hand through her hair and remained silent for a few minutes.

"He also said," Buffy continued as she cleared her dry throat, "That the second attack he would launch is solely for the purpose of eliminating the more powerful shinigami of our divisions," she stated and Kensei didn't have to ask her to know that she was referring to the lieutenants and the captains.

"Did he say when the attack would occur?" Kensei asked, rubbing his nose against her hair.

"He said he would be kind to us and not 'kick a puppy while it was down'," Buffy said, using the words that were given to her the day before.

"What does that mean?" Kensei asked her in alarm.

"He said it meant he wasn't going to attack again until soul society restored itself and had a proper amount of time to grieve."

Kensei growled into her hair at that, "Asshole."

"He also said," Buffy paused, unsure of whether or not to tell him.

"What?" Kensei asked softly.

"He said that he wouldn't kill me until his third attack. He said that - by then - I would be the only one left and that he would kill me with his bare hands."

Kensei wrapped his arms tightly around her at that and Buffy felt her ribs explode with pain, "I won't let that happen."

"Kensei, what if you can't stop it from happening? The First said that the only reason he had Grimmjow kill me was because he knew I would be sent here and he wanted to kill me himself."

"He said that to you?" at her nod, Kensei stood up and gently placed Buffy over his shoulder, "That asshole isn't getting his hands on you," as he flash stepped away Buffy heard him whisper, "Even if I have to die to make sure that it doesn't happen."

* * *

Making their way into the 4th division, Kensei looked around for an empty hospital bed, but noticed that all of the beds were more or less occupied. Spotting an empty bed in the back of the room, Kensei carefully made his way around the busy attendants before placing Buffy on the bed.

"I'll be right back," he promised as he disappeared out of the hospital bay.

Buffy watched as the members of the fourth division ran around the room and attended to various shinigami. The room was in complete chaos after the events of the preceding day. Her eyes scanned the occupied hospital beds around her and guilt stabbed at her stomach as she spotted shinigami that were missing limbs, shinigami that had severe burns to various parts of their bodies, and shinigami that looked as if they were near death. Scanning the area once more, Buffy confirmed - with her eyes - that none of the people she knew were occupying any of the beds. Not that the shinigami surrounding her were any less important, she reminded herself and turned towards a blonde-haired 4th division member who was stupidly wearing a pair of sunglasses indoors.

"Is there any way you could do a quick healing kido on my broken bones?" Buffy asked him, remembering that bones were usually easier to fix with kido than severe wounds.

"That depends," the blonde shot her an icy glare, "Are you any more important than the hundreds of shinigami in here that are about to lose their lives?"

At that, Buffy immediately shut up as an anguished look passed over her features. The blonde had immediately gone back to work on the patient next to her and Buffy's eyes met with a small, frail-looking attendant as he made his way over to her and stood next to her bed.

"Actually, Yasochika-san, Captain Unohana specifically requested that we immediately begin healing Miss Summers' broken bones," the shy-looking shinigami said to the moody blonde who immediately stood up straight at that and turned towards Buffy.

"Did she tell you that? Or are you making it up, Hanataro?" the blonde snapped.

"Oh no, Yasochika-san, I'm not making it up!" Hanataro replied nervously as he ran a hand through his hair and closed his eyes.

"Fine, then let's begin," Yasochika said as he and Hanataro began performing various kidos on Buffy.

Buffy felt her bones starting to snap back into place. As the duo finished performing their kidos, Hanataro handed Buffy a glass of water and some pain medication.

"Thanks," Buffy said smiling at Hanataro and ignoring Yasochika.

"You're quite welcome!" Hanataro chirped happily, "If you'll excuse me, Buffy, I need to attend to the other patients. You are free to go whenever you want."

Buffy watched as he left and her captain returned. Making his way over to her bed, Kensei paused as Buffy swung her legs over the side of the bed and popped two of the pills in the small bottle that was given to her into her mouth. Flushing the pills down with water, Buffy placed the water glass back on the table at her side before turning to the blonde that was glaring at her icily.

"Did you have something that you wanted to say?" Buffy asked politely.

"Don't take more than two of those every 4-6 hours," Yasochika said, "Also, get out of here so more patients can be taken care of."

Buffy frowned at his response before jumping off of the bed, "Rude," she whispered to Kensei.

"Hmmm, I think everyone is just really stressed out," Kensei said as the pair made their way out of the fourth division.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU TWO DOING? STOP IT!" Buffy heard a shrill feminine voice shriek as Kensei and Buffy approached the intersection between the second and third divisions.

Rushing over to the source of the noise, Kensei and Buffy watched as a petite raven-haired woman attempted to yank the zanpakutos of two of her subordinates out of their hands.

"What is going on here, Captain Soi-Fon?" Kensei questioned as he made his way closer to the trio.

"I can't stop them," Soi-Fon cried with tears in her eyes as she turned towards Kensei, "You have to help me stop them!"

"Stop them from doing what?" Kensei said in confusion and watched as Soi-Fon's subordinates unsheathed their zanpakutos and held them up to their own necks.

"Whoa, what the hell, what are you two doing?" Kensei demanded as he moved next to Soi-Fon and also attempted to yank their zanpakutos out of their hands.

"Stop it!" Buffy heard Soi-Fon shriek again and could only watch as Soi-Fon's subordinates easily knocked both Soi-Fon and Kensei to the ground. Resuming their earlier position, the duo held their blades to their necks. Buffy looked away, knowing what was about to come, and winced as she heard two bodies hit the floor.

"I don't understand why they would do this. Why would they do this?" Soi-Fon was shrieking at Kensei.

"I don't know...did any of their friends die in the battle?"

"No! They were just joking around with each other only five minutes ago!" Soi-Fon screeched again as she crouched over her subordinates and started howling in anger.

Buffy watched as two more of Soi-Fon's subordinates left their rooms from across the way. Eyeing them suspiciously, she watched as they walked down the stairs and stood in the center of the barracks. Buffy watched in horror as they, too, removed their zanpakutos and held them up to their own throats. Something definitely was not right here.

"NO! Stop it!" Buffy screamed and Kensei and Soi-Fon whirled around as they too immediately watched the same event about to occur for a second time.

"As your captain I order you to stop this immediately!" Soi-Fon screamed at her subordinates to no effect. It was like her division members were possessed.

"Wait! Stop!" Buffy agreed as she moved to stand in front of the duo and attempted to wrench their blades out of their hands alongside of Soi-Fon.

Knocking both Buffy and Soi-Fon to the ground, the two members of the second division held their zanpakutos up to their throats once again as they stared straight ahead, unseeingly, into the space before them.

"STOP IT!" Buffy screeched and stretched both of her hands out as if to stop them. As she did so, a white orb sky-rocketed from the palm of her hands and hit the duo directly in their chests. Buffy looked down at her hands in shock, and then over to where the division members were now picking themselves off of the floor, looking dazed and confused.

"What's going on?" one of them asked as they looked towards their captain, "Captain Soi-Fon? Is something wrong?"

"Oh my god! What happened to Kurishi-san?" the female next to the male that had asked the previous question shrieked as she looked over at her fallen comrade.

Soi-Fon, however, was no longer focusing on her subordinates. As she stood up, she eyed Buffy curiously and then moved towards her. Before she could get close, however, Kensei suddenly flash-stepped in between them and grabbed Buffy's wrist.

"Gotta go! Let me know immediately if this happens again," he said suddenly as he flash-stepped away, and pulled Buffy along with him.

As they arrived at their destination, the 5th division barracks, Kensei banged loudly on Shinji's office door and waited until he heard a muffled, "Come in," from within the office. Dragging Buffy in behind him, Kensei made his way into the middle of the office and looked around to see Shinji sitting behind his desk with a frown on his face and his lieutenant sitting in the corner, staring at her captain patiently.

"What's up?" Shinji asked disinterestedly as he looked up at the duo.

"That's what I'd like to know," Buffy demanded as she pulled her arm from Kensei's grasp and gave him a glare. Kensei ignored her as he raised his eye brow at Shinji and nodded his head slightly in the direction of Shinji's lieutenant.

"Hinamori, would you mind giving us a few minutes?" Shinji called to his lieutenant, "I'll call you once we're done."

"Of course, captain!" Hinamori said with a smile and then eyed the duo from the 9th division curiously before she left.

"Alright, seriously, what's up?" Shinji asked again as he leaned over his desk and glanced at the two curiously.

"This one," Kensei said as he hooked his thumb in Buffy's direction, "Keeps shooting off random powers every day."

"This one has a name," Buffy snapped at him.

"What kind of random powers? Well other than the demonic ones," Shinji added and Buffy shot her captain a withering glare.

"You told him?" She demanded and punched him lightly in the chest, "What the hell, Kensei?"

"I was worried about you!" Kensei defended while he rubbed his chest, "Besides, it's not like he would tell the captain commander or anything."

"Idiot," Buffy snapped as Shinji watched the exchange with interest.

"Alright, is someone going to tell me what happened before the second war at least?"

Buffy quickly recounted the events with the First in the forest, and as soon as she was done, Kensei added to the story by telling Shinji about the events at Soi-Fon's division. After they finished their story, Shinji sat back in his chair and twiddled his thumbs on his desk before his mouth set in a firm line and he gazed out of the window of his office. After a few minutes of painstaking silence, Kensei slammed a fist down on top of Shinji's desk and immediately drew everyone's gaze towards him.

"Are you going to say something or are you just gonna sit there and stare out the window like a lazy asshole all day?"

"Geeeeeez, someone's a little testy today," Shinji replied as he raised his eyebrows at Kensei.

"I think that Buffy should attempt to make contact with the Powers that Be. They're supplying her with all kinds of ammo, but not with any answers."

Buffy looked thoughtful for a moment at his suggestion, "The only problem is...I don't really know how to contact the Powers that Be. They usually contact me."

"Would Yama-jii know how to contact them? He is, after all, the one that basically hired you," Shinji mused.

"He's insanely busy right now, Shinji, I doubt he would break from his schedule to help with a little side project," Kensei said as he snatched one of the pencils off of Shinji's desk and began tapping it against his chair.

"Knock it off," Shinji warned as the tapping noise filled his ears, "I think he would see Buffy if he knew that she could help. After all, it's something that's pretty urgent."

"That's not necessary," a voice said from across the room.

Turning around, the trio watched as Whistler came out from the shadows of Shinji's room and dragged one of his chairs around and placed it in a position where he could easily see and address the other occupants of the room.

"How long have you been standing there?" Buffy asked as she rolled her eyes at his presence.

"Long enough, kid. Long enough," Whistler replied as he regarded her.

"Alright, Whistler, what the hell is going on with my power? And no cryptic," she added as she watched him open his mouth.

"We've known about the First for a while now," Whistler began and Buffy growled.

"You knew about this and didn't warn me? What the hell?"

"We didn't think the 'real' First would attempt something like this," Whistler said honestly.

"Oh really? You didn't think that the first original evil to ever plague the earth would plot a war of mass destruction?"

"Well..." Whistler trailed off, "That's not really important. What 'is' important is stopping him...it...whatever," Whistler said in confusion before waving the First's gender issue away with his hand.

"Noooo...really? Man, after all this time I thought we would let the war continue and become best friends with the First."

"Alright Sarcastic Summers, so we fucked up," Whistler shrugged and Buffy lunged at him.

Kensei quickly restrained his third seat as Shinji snorted in amusement, "You did more than just fuck up, Whistler. You cost a lot of people here their lives!" she shouted at him before forcing herself to calm down. Sitting back down, she folded her arms across her chest angrily.

"Yeahhhh, about that. We're sending you guys more shinigami soon. Your captain-commander requested it," he added at Shinji and Kensei's surprised looks.

"That doesn't fix the fact that so many of them died," Buffy snapped.

"No, but it does give you guys some extra backup."

"Are you packing them with extra power too? Cause if not, they're pretty much just extra bodies for the enemy."

"No. We aren't." Whistler replied before continuing, "We can't give that much power to that many people, Buffy, which is why we're setting our sights on you."

"Fine...but at least tell me how to use my damn power! I feel like I'm playing a game of supernatural Clue."

Whistler laughed, "Who will you kill next Buffy? Will it be the sixth division captain in the mess hall with the red orb of random energy?"

"I'm not laughing, Whistler," Buffy stated flatly.

"Right, sorry. Well for starters, that white orb you shot at the second division's members was a purifying spell."

"A purifying spell? Like for possessions?" Buffy asked.

"Yes, and also for cuts, scrapes, bruises, and other assorted items," at her look, Whistler cleared his throat nervously, "Alright, basically it's just for possessions."

"Why would I need to purify people?" Buffy asked with a slight tinge of fear in her voice.

"Were you not there at the second division earlier? Or were you having another out-of-body experience?"

Kensei was suddenly forced to restrain Buffy again as she made another attempt to lunge at Whistler.

"Phew, that was a close one. Thanks buddy," Whistler nodded at Kensei and Kensei was tempted to release Buffy after all.

"I don't understand why people are getting possessed," Buffy said in alarm.

"The First is just trying to fuck with your mind. It's what he does."

"What do you mean, fuck with my mind?"

"The First will attempt to possess people that you are close to or random people in general, just to mess with you."

"What?" Buffy shouted and suddenly clutched Kensei's wrist tightly.

"You've experienced something similar before, with his subordinate," Whistler stated slowly, "Just, this time, instead of the First appearing to you as different dead people that you knew, he can actually possess people to mess with you."

"How am I supposed to know who is possessed and who isn't?" Buffy said, the hair standing up on the back of her neck, "If it weren't for the hugely bizarre display of mass suicide earlier, I would have never known that something was off with those division members."

"You just have to look for signs, kid. I can't promise it will be easy, but eventually - one way or another - you'll realize that the people you know are acting out of character."

"This is so beyond any level of messed up I've ever encountered before," Buffy whined.

"Yeah, well, I can't help you there. As for your other powers," Whistler stated as he looked around the room for any possible signs of snooping, "You won't have any control over Taka-Rahn," Whistler finished.

"Sake-Fawn?" Buffy questioned and Whistler rolled his eyes.

"Tah-kah-rahn," he repeated, "It's who you experienced when you were fighting Kenpachi the other day."

"Who is Taka-Rahn and why the hell is he or she invading my body?" Buffy demanded as she balled her hand into a fist.

"Taka-Rahn is the most powerful entity in all of the celestial skies and I will not have you cursing about her!" Whistler shouted in mock solidarity.

"Just tell me who the hell she is," Buffy demanded.

"I just did," Whistler commented flippantly, "Taka-Rahn is literally the most powerful entity in all of the celestial skies," at Buffy's blank stare he huffed, "She's the most powerful force on the side of light that we have."

Buffy finally nodded in understanding, "Okay...why can't I control her?"

"Well right now you can't, anyway, because your soul hasn't been purified," Whistler stated as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Do you 'want' me to beat you to a bloody pulp?" Buffy demanded.

"Buffy, you still have the demon of the slayer inside of you. In order for Taka-Rahn to take up residence in you, that demon has to go."

"I don't know whether to be really confused or really pissed," Buffy stated while weighing both options on her hands.

"Taka-Rahn 'will' take up residence in you, if that helps clear up your confusion," Whistler stated.

"Okay, so the demon inside of me has to come out. What do I do to make that happen? Do I just use this purifying thingy majig?"

"No. You can't use the purification spell on yourself. And once Taka-Rahn takes up residence within you, you won't even need that purification spell. You will literally be the holiest of holies, so anyone that comes in contact with you - possessed or not - will be singing about sunshine, rainbows, and ponies."

"Okay first of all, can we stop with the whole 'taking up residence' thing? That thought alone is creepy enough without you continuing to repeat it," she stated and watched as he rolled his eyes again, "Secondly, I'm not exactly the most spiritual person on the planet," Buffy commented and heard Kensei snort at that.

"It doesn't matter," Whistler retorted, "Everyone knows that you aren't a perfect angel..."

"Hey!" Buffy defended and heard Kensei laugh even louder. Slapping him lightly, Buffy turned back towards Whistler, "So how do I get this demon out of me, then?"

Whistler's mouth set in a grim line at that, "A lover must destroy their soul mate's darkness before their soul mate can be born anew."

"What the? Whistler, I said not to make with the cryptic!" Buffy warned, and watched as Whistler disappeared from the room.

"What the hell!" she shouted at the empty chair.

"Well that was helpful," Shinji commented, speaking for the first time since Whistler left, "All we got out of him was that any one of us can be possessed at any time and that Buffy has no control over Taka-whatever's power unless she gets rid of the demon inside of her, and - surprise - he told us nothing helpful that would resolve that issue."

"What did he mean by 'a lover must destroy their soul mate's darkness before their soul mate can be born anew'?" Kensei questioned as he looked at the two other occupants of the room.

"I don't know," Buffy responded, "For all I know, he could have been quoting Shakespeare."

"Well, this turned out to be an informative day," Shinji mused as he went back to frowning and staring out the window.

"Alright, let's not give up hope yet. Maybe we can find a way to magic this demon out of me," Buffy replied as the door to the office suddenly thudded open and a small blonde girl with pig tails stormed her way into the room.

"Hey! Shinji! Why the hell didn't you tell Love and I about the attack?" the girl demanded as she flung a book from Shinji's bookcase at his head.

As the book made impact, Shinji groaned in pain, rubbing his temple furiously, "Hiyori, I didn't exactly have time to make phone calls as my division was being slaughtered!"

"You should have told us, we could have come and helped!" Hiyori snapped back at him.

"I'll remember that next time we're in a life-threatening situation," Shinji muttered and Hiyori growled at him.

"Don't think you're off the hook either, Kensei, you're just lucky that I hate Shinji more than you," she declared as she eyed Kensei.

"Hey!" Shinji protested from behind his desk.

"Communications were nearly impossible yesterday, Hiyori, we were lucky that hell butterflies were even reaching certain divisions," Kensei replied at the fuming girl.

"And you!" Hiyori pointed towards Buffy who looked at the girl she was just meeting now in shock, "Actually, I don't know who you are, so it doesn't matter."

"Quit getting so worked up, ya idiot, the battle's over now, there's nothing more we can do about it," Shinji admonished as Hiyori frowned.

"So who is this?" she asked as she glanced at Buffy once more.

"Buffy Summers," Buffy greeted and offered a hand that was awkwardly retracted as Hiyori blankly stared at it.

"Hiyori Sarugaki," she answered as she glanced back at Shinji, "So are you just going to sit there? Let's go eat," she demanded.

"I can't, I have a ton of paperwork to do," Shinji replied.

"Kensei?" Hiyori questioned, turning towards him.

"I'm in the same boat. I actually should be getting back now."

"Buffy?" Hiyori grit through her teeth as her nostrils flared.

"I...um..." looking around for help, Buffy was suddenly yanked out of her chair by Hiyori and was dragged out the door.

"Kensei, I'm going to kill you," she declared as Hiyori slammed the door behind them and walked with Buffy towards the dining hall.

"So which one of them are you dating?" Hiyori demanded abruptly.

"What? What are you talking about?"

"I'm guessing it's not Shinji, since he's not acting like a love-sick puppy, so it must be Kensei," Hiyori answered and then jammed an elbow into Buffy's still-sore ribs, "I'm right, aren't I?"

"I, uh, don't really know if we're dating," Buffy answered honestly.

"But you're making out at least, which is always the first step," Hiyori commented as she entered the dining hall and scanned the room.

Seeing a hand wave at them from across the room, Buffy looked over to see a woman with black hair - settled into a braid - waving at them furiously. Seated across from the woman was a man with a rather crazy-looking afro who was reading a magazine intently. Next to him was a huge man with pink hair, who looked nervous as he spotted Hiyori enter the room. Buffy also noticed that Mashiro was seated at the table as well. After Hiyori and Buffy loaded their trays with food, they made their way over to the group and sat down.

"Buffy this is Lisa, Love, Hachi, and Mashiro," Hiyori stated as she pointed at each respective person.

"We've already met," Mashiro announced and Hiyori's head whipped around to glance at her, "Well not formally anyway. It's nice to meet you Buffy."

"Ditto," Buffy replied as she nervously took a sip of her drink.

"So Buffy, Hiyori tells me that you're dating Kensei," Lisa stated flatly and Buffy felt herself flush in embarrassment.

"They're not dating 'yet' Lisa...and I only predicted that, not told you about it," Hiyori snapped as she bit into her apple.

"Hmm, so you were wrong about them dating," Lisa announced as she studied Buffy's reddened cheeks, "But by the way you're blushing, I'm guessing some action is going on."

"Leave her alone," Hachi pleaded from across the table, "It's bad enough that we can barely make friends as it is without you two having to antagonize the only person willing to sit at our table outside of our company."

Lisa muttered a quick apology to Buffy as Hiyori just shrugged nonchalantly. Looking up from his magazine, Love dropped the item on the table and Buffy noticed - with mild disgust - that it was a Playboy magazine. How he was willing to read 'that' kind of thing in public was beyond her. As Love glanced around the table, he seemed to notice Buffy for the first time.

"Hello. Who are you?" he asked loudly.

"We just did introductions a minute ago you dumbass!" Hiyori snapped at him, "This is Buffy. She's in Kensei's division."

Love chose to ignore the tiny blonde's insult, "You're in Kensei's division? How's his temper holding up?" he questioned seriously and heard Lisa laugh from across the table.

"It's, uh, been pretty active," Buffy reflected as she thought about all of the explosions that her captain had produced over the past few months.

"He doesn't handle a lot of stress well, but I'm sure you've noticed that," Love said seriously.

"Actually...in the most stressful situations he's pretty calm," Buffy revealed, "It's the little stuff that he freaks out about."

"Sounds like Kensei," Lisa commented as she shoved a chip into her mouth.

"So you guys all lived together for a while?" Buffy questioned as she looked around the table.

"Yeah. We were pretty much forced to, what with the whole hollowfication incident and everything," Lisa replied.

"Hollowfication incident?" Buffy questioned, confused.

"He didn't tell you?" Lisa questioned her and then suddenly decided that her food was extremely interesting, "Um, never mind, it's not a big deal."

"No please. Enlighten me," Buffy said seriously, suddenly feeling very irritated. What had Kensei been hiding from her? Was this the 'something' that he always glossed over every time they talked about his past together?

"Well..." Lisa started reluctantly, "I'm sure he's told you about Aizen, right?"

Buffy nodded. Kensei had told her all about the traitorous captain that had gone rogue and had caused mass destruction to soul society's army before Ichigo had stepped in and taken him out.

"Well...once upon a time, Aizen was Shinji's lieutenant," Lisa revealed and Buffy felt her eyes widen.

"He failed to mention that," she commented.

"Yeah, well, he doesn't really like to talk about," Lisa defended as she continued her story.

"Way back then we were all ranked officers in soul society's army. Kensei, Shinji, and Rose all held the same positions back then as they do now. I used to be the 8th division's lieutenant. Hiyori was the 12th division's lieutenant under Urahara Kisuke, Mashiro was Kensei's lieutenant, Love was the captain of the 7th and Hachi," she paused gesturing towards him, "Was the lieutenant to the kido corps."

Buffy took all of this in with little surprise. She had known that Kensei and his friends had been ranked officers within soul society at one time, but out of courtesy for the person she had recently met, Buffy listened as Lisa repeated all of this information without interrupting.

"Anyway...a lot of the division members started to disappear around soul society, leaving behind their shinigami robes as the only trace that they had gone missing. The 9th division was sent out to investigate the matter, but they never returned," Lisa said mysteriously and Buffy found herself leaning over the table so that she could hear the other woman more clearly.

"Don't be so dramatic," Love commented as he continued to munch on his food.

Rolling her eyes at him, Lisa continued, "During that time, Urahara Kisuke sent out Hiyori on some stupid mission," at Hiyori's shout of 'It wasn't stupid!' Lisa rolled her eyes again, "And Hiyori encountered something strange."

"Meanwhile," Lisa continued and left Buffy hanging as to what Hiyori's discovery was.

"Well that was an abrupt transition," Hachi commented as Lisa dropped her fork on her plate loudly.

"Let me tell the damn story, Hachi."

"Sorry."

"Meanwhile," Lisa continued and dared anyone at the table to interrupt her, "Yama-jii decided to send out another investigation team on a search and rescue mission for the members of the 9th division. Initially Yama-jii's choice was my captain, Kyoraku, but naturally my captain knew that I was the perfect choice for the mission and everyone in the captains' meeting quickly agreed, seeing as how I was so smart and beautiful and athletically fit."

"That's not what happened at all," Love snorted and dodged the olive that Lisa flicked at his face.

"Anyway," Lisa continued once more, "Our team consisted of Love, Shinji, Hachi, Rose, and myself. Along the way to the area where the 9th division disappeared, we ran into Hiyori and a rather...interesting version of Kensei."

"Again with the dramatics," Love commented and Lisa slapped him on the arm.

"The Kensei that we encountered was not the one that we had known all along. Instead, Kensei was wearing some kind of hollow's mask and was erupting with massive spiritual pressure."

Lisa paused for dramatic effect, which Love promptly rolled his eyes at, and gauged Buffy's reaction - which was a mix of shock and curiosity - before continuing, "A battle began after that that nearly cost us our lives. Hachi's kido would not bind Kensei and we were suddenly under attack by another opponent as Mashiro appeared out of nowhere, also donning a hollow's mask."

"Things only got worse as Hiyori collapsed mid-battle. Just as we were about to help her, she appeared before us, also wearing a hollow's mask. We didn't know what the hell was going on. After battling the trio for a while, the rest of us were suddenly slashed by an invisible sword. A strange white substance erupted from our mouths and we faded into blackness. Well all of us except for Shinji. Shinji held out for a bit longer."

As Lisa continued her story, Buffy noticed that everyone's focus was now on Lisa as well, "What Shinji discovered during that time ended up affecting us all the way until the war against Aizen. Emerging from the shadows, Gin Ichimaru, a member of the third division, Kaname Tosen, a member - and high ranking seat - from Kensei's division, and Aizen revealed themselves."

Pausing, Lisa took a long drink of her water, "It turned out, Aizen was performing experiments on shinigami to determine if he could turn them into hollows. His first attempts - against lower-ranking division members - had failed and had only ended up killing them. Because of this, Aizen set his sights higher and decided to experiment on ranked officers instead. Namely, us," Lisa revealed and Buffy couldn't help the tiny gasp that escaped her lips.

"He was successful," Lisa confirmed, "But only half-successful," she added at Buffy's confused look, "He couldn't turn us into complete hollows, but he was able to create a hollow within us. And an espada-level hollow at that."

Buffy suddenly felt herself becoming angry at Lisa's revelation, "Urahara Kisuke, Shihoin Yoruichi - the captain of the second division at that time - and Tessai Tsukabishi - the head of the kido corps at that time - eventually rescued us and brought us to the world of the living where Urahara built an underground training facility that we used to suppress our hollows."

As Lisa prepared to finish her story, Buffy restrained the urge to flash-step all the way to Kensei's office and kick his ass, "All of us managed to suppress our hollows, and now we can use our hollow's powers whenever we need them...well for a limited time," she added as an afterthought, "Sometimes if we use our hollow masks for too long, they can break and we have to wait a while before we can use them again - Hey! Buffy! Where are you going?" Lisa demanded as Buffy disappeared from the dining hall in a blur of motion.

"Must have been the food," Love commented as he shrugged.

* * *

"Get out!" Buffy demanded as she stormed into Kensei's office and looked over at Hisagi, who was in mid-conversation with Kensei

"Buffy, he's my lieutenant...he's allowed to be in here. What's bothering you?"

"I don't know Kensei. A lot of shit has been bothering me lately, and for the most part I've been coming to you to help me deal with it, because I thought I had someone I could trust in you. Especially considering how close we've become in the last couple of months, but clearly I was wrong."

"Buffy you 'can' trust me. What gave you any idea that you couldn't?"

"Oh I don't know, Kensei. Maybe it's the fact that you never once told me that you were hiding a fucking espada within you, though I guess I should have seen it coming considering I could sense that your spiritual pressure was always slightly darker than most shinigami's."

Before Kensei could speak in his defense, Buffy continued, "I mean really, what the hell Kensei? I confided 'everything' about my murderer to you and you couldn't have once brought up the fact that you were of the same kind?"

"Buffy I'm not a murder I -"

"And yet I've been following you around like a dumbass, listening to your every command and training with you all the while not knowing that you had this neat little mask that - once you put it on - allowed you to turn into a vicious, cold, murderer."

"Buffy that's not who I am, let me explain -"

"I bet you even knew exactly who I was talking about when I described my murderer. All along you probably knew that it was Grimmjow and you didn't even tell me."

At Kensei's silence, Buffy snorted before throwing her hands up in the air, "So you did. Fantastic. Anything else you want to 'not' tell me while I'm here?"

"Hisagi...can you give us a minute please?" Kensei requested as he turned towards his lieutenant.

As Hisagi made to stand, Buffy held her hand out towards him, "Don't bother. I'm out of here," she announced as she made her way over to the gaping hole where Kensei's office door once hung.

"Buffy wait -" Kensei called and stood to go after her, but before he could do anything, she was gone.

Plopping back into the chair behind his desk, Kensei held his head in his hands, "FUCK," he shouted and Hisagi couldn't help but agree.

* * *

**A/N:**Draaaaaaaaamaaaaaaaaaaa! O.O"

**PS:** I will probably have to change the rating to 'M' in the next couple of chapters because I think it's fairly unavoidable at this point, haha.


	8. Hide And Seek

**A/N: **Lots of interesting stuff in this chapter ;o). The rating is officially changed to 'M', by the way. There's too much violence and cursing to avoid it *sigh*.

** LindseyXZ: **Either Kensei will fix it, or Buffy will realize she's being stupid ;oP haha. But you're right, honesty is key in a relationship. Hopefully Kensei will realize that little fact as well.

** Fanatic-FanGirl: **We will have to see if Buffy will remain a slayer ;o). As for Soi-Fon, I imagine she would try to, but Buffy probably would have kicked her ass haha.

* * *

||**Chapter 8:**Hide and Seek ||

* * *

Buffy flash-stepped all the way to Sokyoku hill, wanting to be as far away from Kensei as possible without leaving soul society, before she sat down at the edge of the cliff and let her feet swing back and forth beneath her. She couldn't believe he hadn't told her about his hollow. When was she supposed to find out about it? In the middle of battle, when he whipped out his mask and let the monster inside of him take over? Would he blow a red blast of energy through her chest as well? Or would Shinji, Rose, and the rest of their friends line up to do it instead? As these thoughts raced through her mind, Buffy hung her head low and twisted her robes into her hands. She had been so honest with him, and she had been let down. Why was it that Buffy always found herself attracted to men that had a darkness about them? Somewhere inside of her, she knew she was being somewhat hypocritical, especially since Kensei had accepted the fact that she had a demon inside of her without any hesitation, but this was different. At least Buffy had told him straight-up about it and hadn't skirted around the issue for months before he found out from one of her crazy friends. 'Not like I have any here that I'm even remotely close to,' Buffy reminded herself bitterly.

She wished she could travel down to the world of the living, nab one of Urahara's spiritual-supressing gadgets, and just hide away for a while, but she knew that was impossible. Even if she had somehow made it through one of the heavily guarded gates that led to the living world, she would still be going against regulations by not getting approval to be in the real world. And that was a crime that was punishable by something. By what, Buffy had no idea. Nor did she really care. Wiping a few angry tears from her eyes, Buffy didn't know what she would do next. She couldn't exactly avoid her division altogether because, at the end of the day, she lived there and there was simply nowhere else for her to go. She also couldn't avoid Kensei forever, even though she really wanted to, because he was her captain and as much as Buffy hated to admit it - she had to follow his orders no matter what. Sighing angrily, Buffy sat in silence as she admired the view before her. She wished she had decided to come up here more often, it was pretty relaxing.

Sensing the presence of someone behind her, Buffy turned her head slightly to see the captain of the 10th division standing behind her, "I kind of want to be alone right now," she snapped as he approached.

"Oh...sorry," he murmured quietly, "I...uh...the captain commander wants to see you is all."

"Oh," Buffy felt herself flush with embarrassment, "I'm so sorry, Captain, I thought you were here for something else," Buffy said awkwardly as she ran a hand through her hair.

"It's alright. I can tell the commander that I couldn't find you, if you'd like," the tiny captain offered with a small smile.

"That's okay," Buffy replied as she sniffled and wiped away a few more tears that had escaped her eyes with her sleeve.

"Did something happen?" Hitsugaya questioned softly. Normally he wouldn't get involved in situations such as this one, but he didn't want to abandon the girl if she was crying.

"No," Buffy said immediately, "Yes," she said after that and shook her head.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Toshiro offered as he sat beside her on the cliff.

"I don't know," Buffy responded, "Probably. I just can't believe the stupidity of some of the captains here," she relented.

"Me either," Hitsugaya responded, causing Buffy to smile and laugh lightly.

"I take it you're not too fond of some of them either, then?" Buffy asked looking over at the 10th division captain.

"Hmm, that's an understatement. It's more like, I can't believe that some of them were actually accepted as captains."

"Anyone in particular?" Buffy prodded.

"You're going to get me into trouble," Hitsugaya smiled as he looked over at her.

"Sorry," Buffy apologized again, "I guess I'm only really angry with one captain in particular at the moment."

"Is it your own?" Hitsugaya guessed and at Buffy's surprised look he added, "It usually happens that division members and their captains find themselves at odds with each other at least a couple of times in a shinigami's lifetime. In my case, Matsumoto and I are 'constantly' at odds with each other," Hitsugaya revealed and grit the last part of his sentence out.

Buffy laughed at that, "Well, you happened to hit the nail right on the head with that one. I'm actually pretty furious with my captain."

"Any particular reason for that?" the small white-haired captain asked her as pulled his scarf tighter around his neck.

"He hid the fact that he has an espada-level hollow residing within him from me for months," Buffy declared and waited for Hitsugaya's reaction.

When he showed no surprise at her revelation, she turned on him, "You knew about this too? How many others know about this?"

"Everyone," Hitsugaya revealed, "I can definitely understand why you're angry, and I think you have every right to be, but know this," he paused and turned to Buffy seriously, "Kensei, Shinji, and the other vizards have helped us out tremendously in the past. Especially during the war with Aizen. I would probably not be alive right now if it weren't for them."

"How did they help you? Didn't they go all psycho as soon as they pulled their masks on?" Buffy asked, suddenly starting to feel dread building up in her stomach as she waited for his reply.

"Not at all. They controlled 'that' aspect of their hollows a very long time ago," Hitsugaya responded and Buffy vaguely recalled Lisa saying something as much during the end of her story, but she was too angry at that point to comprehend what the raven-haired woman was saying.

"Oh," Buffy said simply and hung her head in defeat.

"It's still frustrating," Hitsugaya offered as he awkwardly placed a hand on her arm, "Finding out that someone you care about is hiding that big of a secret from you can really take its toll."

Buffy looked up at him and offered him a weak half-smile, "Thanks Captain, but I think I have a lot to think about now."

"You can call me Toshiro," the captain in question told her. Usually he would never, ever allow someone - especially a 3rd seat - to call him by his first name, but Toshiro felt bad for the girl beside him, and he wanted to assure her that he was someone she could trust.

"Thanks Toshiro," she said again before standing up, "So you said the commander needs to see me?"

"Yeah," Toshiro agreed and began to follow her towards the first division when they were suddenly intercepted.

"You! Girl. Come with me, I need your help," Grimmjow demanded as he stood in front of Buffy and Toshiro and gave them both a stare that said he meant business.

"Excuse me?" Buffy said, not believing her ears, "First of all, how are you even roaming around here freely?" she asked and Toshiro couldn't help but wonder the same thing.

"It doesn't matter, you need to come with me 'now'," he urged impatiently.

"What makes you think I'm just going to go with you somewhere, when you murdered me? How do I know you won't try it again?" Toshiro's eyes widened in surprise at the part about Buffy being murdered by Grimmjow. No wonder she was so pissed at finding out about Kensei's secret.

Grimmjow rolled his eyes, "Why would I try to kill you again? It's clear that you have some super power now and could easily crush me. Look, I don't have time for you to blabber on about justice and righting the wrongs in the world. We need to leave now before the others discover that something is happening up here."

With that, Grimmjow opened up a rip in the sky, "Let's go," he demanded again.

"No way in heaven or hell," Buffy stated and then was suddenly yanked forward towards the rip.

"Get back here!" she heard Toshiro yell from behind her, "You can't just kidnap one of our division members in front of a captain!"

"Then come with us, you little idiot," Grimmjow snapped as he dragged Buffy closer towards the rip and turned to raise a challenging eyebrow at the small captain.

"Oh for the love of god," Toshiro said, rolling his eyes before he followed Grimmjow - and the flailing Buffy - into the rip.

* * *

Kensei bolted into Shinji's office and balled his hands into fists as he saw the entire Vizard gang hanging around the toothy captain's living quarters.

"What's up, Kensei?" Shinji greeted as changed the jazz cd he was playing to the next track.

"What's up?" Kensei repeated in annoyance, "Why don't you ask these fucktards over here what's up?" he said as he gestured to the other occupants in the room.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, what's with all the hostility?" Kensei heard Love ask from his sprawled out position on Shinji's couch.

"Which one of you dumbasses told Buffy about how we became vizards?" Kensei demanded, looking around the room.

"Oh shit," Shinji cursed as he quickly turned off his music.

"Yeah, 'oh shit' is right," Kensei agreed as he eyed Shinji.

"What's the big deal?" Lisa suddenly snapped from across the room before marching over to Kensei, "Everyone in soul society knows about it. It's not like it's some huge secret."

"It was a huge secret to her, and it was a huge shock when she found out about it," Kensei shouted in Lisa's face, "I'll bet you were the one that told her too, weren't you?"

"Calm down, Kensei, fighting is not going to help things," Rose said as he sat on the edge of Shinji's desk.

Kensei, however, ignored him, "Do you have any idea just how far back you pushed my relationship with her?" he questioned Lisa.

"What relationship? According to her, you guys aren't even established as anything yet," Lisa responded, delivering a blow that was well below the belt.

Becoming flustered at that comment Kensei grabbed her by the hem of her shirt before he was roughly pushed away as both Love and Shinji separated the duo.

"Stop it. What's done is done. There's nothing you can do but try and fix it," Shinji stated as he attempted to calm the raging Kensei down.

Rounding on him, Kensei snapped, "Who are you to give me advice, Shinji? You're the one that insisted I not tell her from the get go!"

At that, Shinji became flustered, "At the time, I thought that that was best thing to do. At least until you found a way to break it to her gently."

"Okay, enough," Love demanded as he decided he was tired of hearing all the bullshit, "Why, exactly, is it such a bad thing that Buffy knows about us? None of you are really explaining that very clearly."

"It's bad because Grimmjow - the espada," he said pointedly, "Was the one that caused Buffy to end up in soul society in the first place."

"What do you mean by that?" Lisa asked as Kensei's eyes bored holes into her skull.

"In the living world Grimmjow killed her. All she saw of her murderer before she died was a psychotic man that had a broken bone mask on his face. Then she found out that the man that had killed her was actually known as an espada. Then last night, you blurted out that we all had espadas residing within us."

Lisa's eyes widened as she comprehended what he was saying, "Kensei I had no idea...I'm sorry," she apologized sincerely.

"It's okay," he finally relented with a sigh, "I just have to figure out how to fix things between us."

"Are you...Do you...?" Lisa began but then became silent.

"Yes," Kensei said without hesitation, understanding that Lisa was trying to ask if he was in love with her. Even though he had never vocalized his feelings to her before, he knew that he absolutely loved her. He wouldn't be acting this insane about the situation if he didn't.

"I'm sorry about what I said before," Lisa said softly, "I think she was just confused because you guys never put a label on it. It was pretty obvious that she felt the same way though."

"Really?" he asked her with genuine curiosity.

"Really," Lisa confirmed.

"I have to find her," Kensei said with a sigh.

"We'll help," Lisa offered as she looked around the room.

"What's going on?" Mashiro demanded as she sucked on a lollipop noisily, "Is Kensei in love?"

"Shut up, Mashiro," Hiyori snapped to the amazement of everyone in the room.

Watching in mild curiosity as a butterfly flew in through Shinji's opened window and he caught it in the palm of his hand, Kensei was suddenly on high alert as Shinji's eyes widened in surprise.

"What is it?"

"Grimmjow escaped from his holding cell about 15 minutes ago."

"So? Who cares. Let the commander deal with it," Kensei said flippantly.

"He opened a rip to Hueco Muendo before taking Buffy and Captain Hitsugaya with him."

Kensei slammed a fist into the wall, "Damn it!"

* * *

As the trio landed in Hueco Muendo, Buffy and Grimmjow fell to the floor and Buffy immediately rolled off of him and landed a sharp kick to his head before standing and dusting her robes free of sand.

"Ow, damn it," Grimmjow cursed as he, too, rose into a standing position.

"Where the hell...is this?" Buffy asked as she looked at her surroundings. Looking up at the sky, she noted that it was pretty dark and the moon was shining brightly above them, the only source of light to illuminate the area. All around them was endless sand and Buffy noted - with a mix of horror and fascination - that there were tiny hollows running around the place in the form of lizards or other tiny critters.

"Hueco Muendo," Toshiro said from her side as he landed gracefully beside the duo.

"Can we get a move on?" Grimmjow blurted from in front of them.

"Get a move on to where?" Toshiro asked in annoyance.

"Does it matter?" Grimmjow asked and then watched as both of his companions shot a glare at him, "Halibel is still trapped here, we're going to rescue her."

"What?" Buffy shouted at the same time that Toshiro shouted, "That's it, I'm going home."

"Count me in," Buffy responded to Toshiro as she processed what he had shouted.

"No, wait!" Grimmjow shouted at the duo, "Please? Normally I wouldn't beg...but our enemy is someone that I can't go up against by myself."

"Our enemy?" Buffy remarked with a snort.

"Yeah. Please don't associate yourself with us," Toshiro retorted at the teal-haired espada.

"Ichigo seems to think we're on the same side!" Grimmjow snapped as if that was the only thing that mattered.

"Do you want a round of applause?" Buffy commented icily.

Toshiro snorted, "Just because he doesn't want you dead, doesn't mean that we don't."

"Well, whatever," Grimmjow snapped as he waved his zanpakuto around wildly, "I need you guys to help me rescue Halibel from devil-mask's headquarters. And it's not just for me, you dumbasses, Ichigo seemed to think it was a good idea and that commander guy that you all report to was even considering it."

"Why do I find that so hard to believe?" Buffy asked to no one in particular.

"Then why isn't Ichigo here if he thought it was such a good idea? Usually he's the first one to take rash actions without permission," Toshiro snapped.

"He was too injured to come with me," Grimmjow said seriously, "Weren't you there when he got caught in the middle of that explosion at the 8th division's barracks?"

Toshiro's eyes widened, "He got caught in that explosion?"

"Yeah, he took the worst of it too because he was trying to save that Rukia girl from getting hurt."

"Well that still doesn't support your justification about the captain commander," Toshiro said pointedly.

"Seriously. I doubt you would have been trying to leave so quickly to avoid getting caught if the commander had given you permission to come here," Buffy agreed.

"I said he was considering it, didn't I? I never said he actually gave me permission," Grimmjow growled.

"All I hear is a lot of nothing coming out of your mouth, with an occasional poorly-invented lie," Buffy said as she rolled her eyes.

"The captain commander was considering it because he was terrified that the army already present within soul society wasn't enough," Grimmjow finally relented, looking at the duo.

Toshiro rolled his eyes at the espada, "That seems really unlikely."

"Actually," Buffy said and Toshiro looked at her questioningly, "It does seem pretty likely. My report to my captain about the enemy wasn't exactly rainbows and butterflies. I'm sure that when he submitted it to the captain commander, the old man thought much of the same."

"What was in your report?" Toshiro questioned with a tinge of fear in his voice.

"In short, that the enemy was pretty much a force 'not' to be reckoned with considering he took me out in about two blows."

Toshiro looked at her in surprise, "No offense, but aren't you supposed to be our secret weapon alongside of Kurosaki or something?"

"Yeah," Buffy said quietly, "Which is why the commander is probably so fearful."

Toshiro let out a huge sigh then, "Well if he thinks that we need more support, then we need more support. No one can really argue with that," turning back towards Grimmjow, he shook his head at the espada, "Where is this guy's base? I swear to Hyorinmaru that if you get us killed I will come back and haunt your ass."

Buffy snorted at that and watched as Grimmjow lifted his eyebrow in amusement, "It's this way," he replied as he left to journey to the place in question.

"How do we know this isn't some huge trap?" Toshiro whispered to Buffy as the duo followed Grimmjow at a steady pace.

"Normally we wouldn't, but the enemy - known as the First - told me he was waiting to kill me with his bare hands during the third stage of the war. That being said, I doubt he would let Grimmjow lead us straight to death."

"Okay, I guess that makes sense," Toshiro relented.

"Also there's the fact that the First was willing to turn Grimmjow into kibbles and bits yesterday by my own zanpakuto."

"I guess that would prevent Grimmjow from wanting to work with him," Toshiro agreed as the trio finally made their way to a tall black tower - that looked similar to a lighthouse - in the middle of the desert.

"She's in here. You go in and I'll wait here," Grimmjow stated as he turned towards Buffy.

"Like hell that's happening," Buffy stated as she yanked Grimmjow along with her towards the tower. Just as they were about to approach, however, a blur of motion settled before them.

Buffy looked up to see the First standing before them, holding a bloody bundle in his arms, "Looking for this?" he commented as he carelessly dropped the bundle at their feet. Buffy could clearly see a blonde-haired woman wearing a short white jacket with a collar that reached up to just below her eyes within the bundle. She was bleeding profusely from many wounds adorning her body.

"What the hell did you do to her, you bastard?" Grimmjow spat.

"This is the price to pay for betrayal, or didn't your little incident yesterday teach you anything?" the First responded as he eyed Buffy curiously.

"It's good to see you again Buffy," he commented as if they were old friends, "You're looking very healthy and...alive."

"Yeah, well, you pretty much told me that I wasn't allowed to die until you were ready for me to."

"True," the First stated as he took a step towards her, "But I never said I wouldn't punish you for breaking into my home without permission."

Buffy gulped as a pang of fear shot up through her spine. She watched as the First removed the zanpakuto he was carrying before he unleashed an attack that none of them could see - or defend against. Buffy closed her eyes, expecting to feel pain, but she was surprised when nothing came.

Opening her eyes, Buffy was horrified to see that Grimmjow had moved in front of her and took the attack in her stead. He was bleeding heavily from a cut that had slashed him diagonally from his right shoulder to his left hip. Buffy heard him pant and watched as blood poured onto the desert floor, presumably from Grimmjow's mouth.

"How noble. The murderer comes to save his former victim," the First sneered as he re-sheathed his zanpakuto.

"Leave her out of this. She's here because of me," Grimmjow stated in a low voice.

"Is that right? Well in that case, I guess you are the one I should be punishing."

"Wait! Stop it!" Buffy shouted in alarm and the First turned to regard her with a smile, "We got what we came here for, can't you just let us go for now?"

"Negotiating with the enemy. Hmmm, that's a first for you Summers. Usually you just start kicking and punching without abandon," the First stated as he folded his arms across his chest, "Though I guess you've come to realize that that method won't work out so well for you against me."

"Let us go," Buffy urged again as she looked at the First pointedly.

"Very well...but not before I show you a sneek peak at my next plan of attack for soul society," the First said in amusement. Before any of them could protest, the First snapped his fingers and they were suddenly transported to the middle of the desert.

Looking around in surprise, Toshiro narrowed his eyes at their enemy, "How did you do that?"

"It matters not," the First responded and then looked around the area. He snapped his fingers again and then suddenly the four of them were surrounded by thousands of hooded creatures. Buffy looked around in bewilderment as she inspected one of the figures closely.

The creature was wearing nothing but black robes, with a long hood shrouding its face from sight. The only thing that Buffy could see were a pair of glowing red orbs as she locked eyes with the creature. And then Buffy sunk to her knees and started screaming. Toshiro and Grimmjow watched in amazement at the actions of their companion. Moving to stand in front of her, Toshiro gently shook the slayer and attempted to rouse her from her panicked screaming to no avail. He watched as a thin stream of blood started to trickle out of the slayer's nose.

"It's not use," the First stated as he looked over at the small captain, "Once the mahlorah look into your eyes, there is nothing you can do to escape the mind-shattering illusions it produces."

"What kind of illusions?" Toshiro demanded as he wiped the blood coming out of Buffy's nose with the sleeve of her own robes. The last person that was able to produce those kind of illusions had been Aizen, so naturally Toshiro was fearful of any power that had the same capabilities.

"Well...right now," the First paused before coming to stand next to Buffy and place a hand on her forehead, "Miss Summers is seeing her worst fear come to realization. That being, of course, her beloved captain turning into the thing she despises most, and killing her."

"Well make it stop," Toshiro snapped as he batted the First's hand away from Buffy's forehead.

"Not yet, Captain Hitsugaya, I haven't showed you the grand finale."

As Toshiro watched in alarm, Buffy's spine snapped backwards at an awkward angle with a loud 'crack'. Horrified, he was thrown to his feet as he watched the slayer writhe around in agony. Large welts appeared on her body, followed by bloody claw marks that tore gashes into her arms and stomach. Finally, blood began to pour down her chest as a giant hole sat in the place where her heart used to be.

"You're killing her!" Grimmjow shouted as he made to reach for the slayer. The First, however, placed a placating hand on his chest, and the duo watched as he snapped his fingers once more and Buffy was restored. The wounds that had littered her body were no longer present.

Glancing around in panic, Buffy whimpered as Toshiro made his way over to her and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"What...was...that?" Buffy breathed as she glanced up at the First.

"Your deepest fear...come to fruition," he smirked down at her, "And come to kill you."

"Where are the wounds that she had?" Toshiro questioned as he gripped Buffy's shoulder tightly in his hand, afraid that she might start to spasm again at a moment's notice.

"Oh that was just a prototype, Captain Hitsugaya, not the real thing. But I can assure you that that is what will really happen come the day of the second war. Well 'that', among other things," the First promised as he looked down at the trio.

"You bastard," Toshiro spat but didn't dare to try and attack the First. Somehow he knew that it would only end in misery, and he had to return to soul society as quickly as possible to report to the commander.

"He wouldn't do that to me," Buffy whispered quietly as she looked up at Toshiro, "Right? He wouldn't do that to me."

"He wouldn't," Toshiro confirmed, giving her shoulder a little squeeze.

"None of us would do that to you," Grimmjow added as he looked down at the tiny slayer.

Buffy nodded in affirmation as she locked eyes with the espada and a certain level of understanding passed between them. Rising to her feet, Buffy turned to face the First but was shocked as she discovered that he had disappeared, along with his legion of hooded whatevers.

"Where did he go?" she demanded as she scanned the area.

"Who knows? Let's not wait to find out. He's clearly giving us a chance to escape and I'm not going to fuck up that chance by going on a manhunt to find him," Grimmjow declared as he scooped the still-bleeding 3rd espada into his arms.

"Let's go," Toshiro agreed as the 6th espada opened another portal that would take them back to soul society.

Looking behind her as the trio made their way to the portal, Buffy could have sworn she saw a pair of red eyes leering at her from within the darkness.

* * *

As the trio emerged from the portal, back onto Sokyoku Hill, they were not prepared for the large group of people that suddenly flanked them from all sides. Looking around, Buffy easily spotted the second, 6th, and 7th division captains as they moved to the front of their respective divisions. Further back, in the distance, Buffy easily spotted Kensei, Shinji, and Rose and watched as they surveyed the situation uneasily.

"Captain Toshiro Hitsugaya of the 10th division and Buffy Summers, 3rd seat of the 9th division, you have both directly participated in violating soul society's rules by entering Hueco Muendo without permission. Not only that, but you aided an escaped known enemy of soul society and brought another one back with you," Buffy heard the second division captain, Soi-Fon, growl as she aimed her zanpakuto at Buffy's head.

"What do you have to say for yourselves?" Soi-Fon demanded.

"Hey! Let's not all make with the pointing of swords - and fingers - here," Buffy said calmly, "Remember that I helped save your division members' asses just this morning," Buffy commented before briefly realizing that the sun had only just started to set. This was turning out to be a really long day.

As Soi-Fon hesitated and lowered her sword slightly, her eyes narrowed, "As if that matters. You still broke the rules. Breaking the rules has consequences."

"I cannot justify my own actions," Toshiro interjected as he glared up at the second division's captain, "But Miss Summers did not enter Hueco Muendo of her own free will."

"Bullshit," Soi-Fon snapped as she eyed Buffy up and down, "We all know of the kind of power that she has. If she had really wanted to, she could have escaped and returned here." Buffy winced at that. Soi-Fon wasn't completely wrong.

"In the heat of the moment, neither of us had the appropriate amount of time to consider any alternatives," Toshiro retorted and Buffy agreed. That was most definitely true.

"It doesn't matter. I am placing you both under arrest," Soi-Fon snapped as she glared at the duo.

"Release them," a voice commanded from the back of the crowd and everyone - including Soi-Fon - turned to see the captain commander emerge from the crowd with a grinning Ichigo Kurosaki at his side. Sighing in relief at the sight of the teenager's smiling face, Buffy allowed herself to relax slightly as the captain commander stopped in front of them.

"Considering the urgent situation, Captain Soi-Fon, we do not have time to be arresting two of our most powerful division members."

"But they were fraternizing with the enemy!" Soi-Fon protested as she whirled on the commander.

"They are no longer the enemy!" Yamamoto snapped and everyone gripped at their chests as Yamamoto's spiritual pressure increased with his anger, "Not anymore. Besides, I'm assuming that the two of you have some discoveries that you need to inform me about."

"Yes, we do," Toshiro agreed as he met the gaze of the captain commander, "We have found out some shocking truths about the second wave of this war."

At the collective gasp and outburst of noise that filled the area, Yamamoto slammed his staff on the ground, "Enough. We will hold a captains' meeting immediately. Grimmjow, Buffy, and Ichigo, you three will attend as well," Yamamoto added and then regarded the unconscious form of Halibel, "Soi-Fon, you will take the 3rd espada and deliver her to the fourth division - And no complaints!" he added at Soi-Fon's look of pure disgust.

"As for the rest of you, head back to your divisions and wait for further instruction," Yamamoto said in finality as looked around the crowd and watched as they immediately dispersed.

Turning back to regard the company that was left over, Yamamoto made a 'follow me' motion with his hand before turning to walk to the first division.

Buffy glanced over curiously at Kensei as he, Shinji, and Rose began to trail the small group from behind. At his hopeful look, Buffy suddenly looked away and down at her feet instead. She felt guilty, but the hallucination that the First's puppet had produced had left her with an uneasy feeling despite the understanding that she now felt for Grimmjow and the other vizards.

* * *

As the captains' meeting came to an end, Buffy watched as the captains cleared out of the room. Kensei had lingered for a little while longer, but - seeing that Buffy was clearly waiting around to speak to Yamamoto alone - he soon left. Making her way over to the captain commander, Buffy began to fill him in on all of the information that Whistler had presented her with only hours before. After she finished, Yamamoto glanced at her curiously before clearing his throat.

"Well...that is certainly interesting. Perhaps we can have the 12th division research a way to remove the demon from you without harming you," he suggested.

"I'd rather not go that route unless we have to use it as a last resort," Buffy commented as she shuddered at the idea of clown-face poking and prodding her with different painful-looking instruments.

"Very well, but if you will not allow the 12th division to take care of this matter, then I suggest you dedicate and focus all of your energies into finding a solution yourself because, quite frankly, we are running out of time."

"I know," Buffy said feeling somewhat guilty, "I promise you that I will dedicate every waking hour to figuring out how to get the ball rolling on this so that I can become super Buffy and defeat the First."

"And," Yamamoto said seriously as he looked her over, "If what you say is true, then you need to be aware of any oddities that any division members may produce. We cannot afford to have more division members either committing suicide or trying to kill each other because they are possessed."

"I'll look out for that," Buffy promised as she was dismissed.

As she left the building, Buffy saw Kensei leaning against one of the poles that was surrounding the first division. It was now completely dark out, so the only reason she could see him was because he happened to be standing underneath one of the lights that was illuminating the border of the building. Sighing lightly, she made her way over to him and prepared to have the 'talk' that she had been avoiding all day and even went to Hueco Muendo to escape. Okay, so the last part had actually happened conveniently, but Buffy was grateful for the extra reflection time, none-the-less.

"Hey," she greeted as she stood in front of him.

"Hey," he responded, straightening up and looking down at her. After a few minutes of awkward silence, Kensei cleared his throat, "Buffy I just wanted you to know that the only reason I didn't tell you was because -"

Kensei was cut off as Buffy threw her arms around his waist and buried her face into his chest, "I don't care Kensei. It doesn't matter. I trust you," she breathed.

Surprised by her reaction, Kensei wrapped his arms around her waist and placed his chin on the top of her head, "You can always trust me," he declared as he rubbed his hand up and down the small of her back.

"Can we just pretend that most of this day didn't happen?" Buffy asked quietly.

"I'm okay with that," Kensei murmured against her ear.

"And maybe," Buffy started even more quietly, "We can promise each other that we won't, you know, demon-out or hollow-out or anything."

"If you mean not using my vizard powers-"

"Oh! No, Kensei, I just meant like...not letting the crap inside of us take over completely," she interjected as he broke away from her and grabbed her gently by the shoulders.

"I promise," Kensei vowed as he pressed a light kiss to her lips.

"I promise too," Buffy replied and kissed him back.

At the end of the day, however, neither of them were really sure if they could keep that promise.

* * *

\\\\\


	9. I Have Never Seen

**A/N: **My goodness...I thought this was going to be a happy chapter until the end. Sorry guys! I just can't seem to help myself.

* * *

||**Chapter 9:** I Have Never Seen ||

* * *

Another six months had passed since the day of the First's attack. Buffy had divided most of her time between training and researching ways to get rid of her demon. The Powers that Suck At Life hadn't exactly been very helpful with the latter situation either. She had heard nothing from Whistler ever since he appeared in Shinji's office on that fateful day six months ago. She was also feeling increased pressure from the captain commander to find a solution to her demon problem. He had threatened her - in an oddly nice way - that if she didn't figure out something soon, he would leave the situation in Captain Kurotsuchi's hands. Deciding that she would let herself be served on a silver platter to the First before 'that' happened, Buffy had researched everything from magical goats to enchanted shellfish with no result. Nothing in soul society's thousands of archives was coming even remotely close to what she needed. Buffy had even gone so far as to research Whistler's cryptic Shakespearian message before he had left on that day to no avail.

The only good thing that had come out of the past six months was that Buffy's relationships with certain people were stronger than ever. After the whole mess with the battle and the vizards' revelation of Kensei's hollow, Buffy had been closer than ever to Kensei. She now felt comfortable enough and secure enough in her relationship with Kensei to refer to him as her boyfriend whenever their relationship status came to the surface, which was rare. Buffy had also had no further encounters with 'Taka-Rahn', so any of Kensei's worries about her were nullified for the time being. Powers aside, Buffy had found that overall, her bond with Kensei was stronger than ever because there were literally no secrets between them. Well no major secrets anyway. Kensei didn't have to know about Buffy's drunk encounters with a karaoke machine when she went out with Rangiku, Rukia, Hinamori, Nanao, and Isane for their weekly, Friday night 'girl's night out'. Buffy found that her relationship with Kensei wasn't really one that included a lot of PDA, because both of their personalities didn't really demand that. Instead, their most tender and private moments within Kensei's quarters were enough for the both of them.

Her relationships with her friends within soul society had become a lot stronger as well. She had spent many mornings hanging out with Kensei and Hisagi in his office, talking about random things and laughing for hours. Lunch was usually spent with Shinji and Hinamori either in the dining hall or his office and as a result, she had become extremely close to Hinamori as well. Buffy had more or less adopted Hinamori as her new little sister, especially because Dawn could no longer hold that position within her life. At least not physically anyway. Mentally and emotionally speaking, Dawn would always have a place in Buffy's heart as the sister that she loved and adored. During the evenings, Buffy frequently grabbed dinner with both Toshiro and Matsumoto , who had become closer because she was best friends with both of them and it was unavoidable. That didn't mean that they didn't both bitch to her about each other every chance they got. Buffy had also become extremely close to Rukia and Renji because she had hung out with them frequently every time that Ichigo had been in Soul Society. Ichigo had been arriving in soul society almost every weekend now because Yamamoto demanded that he keep an eye on Grimmjow and Halibel.

Why, Buffy didn't know. As far as she could tell Grimmjow and Halibel were nothing more than harmless cats now days. Sure, they were still powerful, but Buffy or Ichigo could have easily taken them out if they decided to go rogue. They were currently living in adjacent rooms in the 9th division because Yamamoto wanted to make sure that Buffy kept an eye on them when Ichigo could not. Adding that to her list of various duties gave Buffy one more reason to rank Yamamoto higher on her shit list. Currently the 12th division captain was number one on the list, however, so Yamamoto didn't have to worry about usurping Mayuri's spot as Buffy was positive that Mayuri wouldn't budge from his number 1 ranking. Even the First had only claimed her number 2 spot and that was because - even though Buffy recognized him as an extremely dangerous threat - he hadn't been visible during the last six months. Mayuri, on the other hand, had followed Buffy in the shadows every chance he got and had even tried to stab her with various liquid-filled syringes during her nightly patrols. It had gotten so bad that at one point Kensei and Shinji had cornered him in the dining hall and basically attempted to detach his head from his body before Captain Ukitake interfered and reminded them that it wasn't worth it.

As far as the whole 'possession' thing was concerned, Buffy had only encountered 2 incidents of possession in the past six months and both of those incidents had occurred only one week after the battle with the super vamps. Buffy wasn't really sure if the first incident had counted though, because it had concerned Mayuri attempting to drown Buffy in Byakuya's fish pond with a strength that was unnatural and inhuman. Although she knew it had to have been a possession due to his absurd strength, a part of Buffy still believed that it was just Mayuri being Mayuri. Her conclusions were only strengthened by Kensei's insistence to the captain commander that it was Mayuri being "His same old fucked up self," as he had put it. The second incident had occurred when Matsumoto attempted to poison Hisagi's food with a bottle of unknown liquid. Toshiro had intercepted the event because he had seen it happening and Buffy had been on site to 'purify' Matsumoto, who - afterwards - had no recollection of the incident ever happening. None-the-less, Hisagi was still uneasy around Matsumoto and made a point to carry his own drinks with him wherever he went.

All Buffy knew was that she had to find out how to get rid of her demon, and immediately. Although no attacks had occurred in the last couple of months, Buffy knew it was only a matter of time before the First struck again with a vengeance. Yamamoto had purposely delayed reconstruction efforts so that soul society was repaired at a snail's pace. Even now, some of the buildings still had obvious damage to them and scorch marks where division members had tried to blow up the super vamps. Overall, while the pace of the reconstruction effort bought them more time, it was a painful reminder of what had occurred that night. All Buffy could do to help was continue to research and hope that something would come up soon, which is what she found herself doing now. Sitting at a crowded table in soul society's archives, Buffy slammed the textbook she was reading shut and sighed loudly.

"What kind of name is Taka-Rahn, anyway? It sounds like a type of cereal," she commented sarcastically.

"Maybe it is," Shinji replied from her left as he, too, shut his book.

"I'm not finding anything. Though I guess I should have expected that from a book about the anatomy of flying insects," Kensei murmured as he looked up from the book in question.

"Soul society certainly has an interesting collection of novels," Toshiro commented as he shut his own book as well. Buffy could clearly see that the title of the book was 'Children's Songs and their Hidden Meanings'. At her raised eyebrow, Toshiro shot her a glare.

"I thought it might pertain to the message you received!" he growled at her as tossed the book aside.

"Mmmhmm," Buffy said and watched as Matsumoto seemed to be really engrossed in her book. Every once in a while she would making strange noises as if the book had sprouted ears and was a tiny baby kitten.

Following Buffy's gaze, Captain Hitsugaya also looked over to see what Matsumoto was reading. Suddenly a dark look passed over the tiny captain's face, "MATSUMOTO!" he screamed and all four other occupants of the table immediately snapped their attention to him.

Pulling a magazine from within Matsumoto's book, the 10th division fixated his lieutenant with an icy glare, "How is this helping our cause? You are too lazy!" he scolded as he promptly ripped the magazine in half, much to the protest of Matsumoto.

"Captain! That was the latest issue on spring fashion!" Matsumoto whined loudly.

"I don't care. Why did you even come if you weren't willing to help research?"

"Research is boring," Matsumoto revealed as if it were uncommon knowledge, "I only came to offer moral support," she finished and shrugged sheepishly.

"Well the moral support is appreciated, but if I had known you were hiding fashion magazines, then I wouldn't have bothered with this crap from the get-go," Buffy sighed as she eyed the torn-up magazine with jealousy.

"Buffy you can't treat this issue that way, we need to be diligent with our research," Toshiro scolded once again, only this time focusing his efforts on the 9th division's third seat.

"I knooooow," Buffy said in a drawn-out yawn. It was only 11 am, but the occupants of the room had been researching since 8 o'clock in the morning. How Matsumoto had gotten up that early was beyond Buffy, but she suspected it had something to do with her relentless captain.

"Maybe we should take a lunch break," Shinji suggested as his stomach growled in answer to his suggestion.

"Yeah, we probably should. Besides, Hisagi said he would help with the research after lunch, and he's pretty much a research pro," Kensei commented and watched as Matsumoto winced.

"He won't be eating with us, will he?" she questioned innocently.

"No, so you don't have to worry about accidentally poisoning his beverages," Kensei replied and Matsumoto's eyes widened.

"Shut up Kensei, it was an accident," Buffy replied giving a glare at her boyfriend's insincerity, "I really hope that things get better between the two of you. You guys were really good friends."

"I know," Matusmoto said sadly, "We were really good drinking partners too. We always beat Kira, that little sucker," she commented with a laugh, "Now that I've been caught poisoning his drinks though, I doubt he'll want to drink with me ever again."

"You shouldn't be drinking so much anyway! You'll damage your liver," Hitsugaya snapped, "Besides, whoever bases their friendship on drinking, shopping, and going to the spa isn't exactly forming a healthy relationship."

At his last comment, Buffy and Matsumoto avoided each other's gaze. Those three things basically wrapped up their friendship in a nutshell. Well that and discussing all of the hot men in soul society. Noticing their actions, Toshiro sighed at them both in disappointment before he rose from his chair and looked around at the small group of people.

"Well, we should probably go and eat something. It's 11, so I'm sure Captain Kurotsuchi is around here waiting creepily in the shadows," Toshiro commented as he winced at his own words.

"I hope not," Buffy muttered as a dark look passed over Kensei and Shinji and they exchanged glances.

As the five of them exited the building, they were unsurprised to see the 12th division captain sitting casually on a bench just outside of the building. Looking up at them as they emerged, Mayuri flashed them a creepy smile before rising from the bench.

"Oh what a coincidence, what brings you guys here to the information archives? Could it be that you are researching a way to extract Miss Summers' demon? I can help you with that process a whole lot more easily."

"We're not interested," Shinji said loudly as he flashed a creepy smile at Mayuri that rivaled the 12th division captain's own.

"That's a shame. I'm sure if Miss Summers wasn't flanked by a bunch of idiots she would respond differently," Mayuri stated and before Buffy could respond in her own defense she heard a growl escape Kensei's throat and in the next instant, Mayuri was shoved up against the wall as Kensei pinned him roughly against it.

"Che. It seems the brute doesn't have any manners at all," clown-faced replied as he stared back at the enraged 9th division captain with disinterest.

"Leave. Her. The Fuck. Alone," Kensei growled out as Shinji and Buffy yanked him away from Kurotsuchi.

"Eventually there will be nothing you can do about it, Muguruma," Mayuri stated with a laugh, "The captain commander is already annoyed enough with the slow process that your 'research' is taking," he stated as he straightened out his robes, "It's only a matter of time before he allows me to take the reins on this project. And I won't be gentle," he added and Buffy and Shinji were once again forced to restrain Kensei.

"Touch her and you die," Kensei shouted and Buffy rubbed his arm with her thumb, attempting to calm him down.

"We'll find a way," Buffy promised clown-face, "Resorting to you as our last hope isn't even a situation that exists in my mind."

"It should, because you may not have other options," Mayuri sneered at her.

"We'll see about that," she retorted and dragged Kensei away from the building and towards the dining hall. Her group of friends followed along behind them.

"I'll die before I let that bastard touch you," Kensei muttered quietly as he squeezed Buffy's hand briefly and walked into the dining hall.

"I know," Buffy agreed and smiled up at him, "But it's not gonna happen, so we won't have to resort to anything dramatic, okay?"

"Okay," he agreed reluctantly and the duo started to grab food before settling in at their usual table.

"You forget that I'm super Buffy and would probably break his spine before he could come anywhere near me," Buffy declared as she shoved a roll into her mouth.

"That might be true, but Mayuri is a shady person. He spends all of his free time doing research and creating things that would probably be illegal anywhere else," Kensei responded and then looked at her seriously, "I just want you to be careful."

"I will be," she agreed as she continued to plow through her food.

"Hungry?" her boyfriend asked as he watched her in amusement.

"These nightly patrols along with my newfound babysitting duties are really starting to make me burn a lot of energy that only food can satisfy," Buffy declared through a mouth full of food.

"How 'are' the espada?" Kensei questioned as the others settled themselves around the duo.

"Really annoying," Buffy answered as her expression turned sour, "Grimmjow keeps making these ridiculous demands."

"Like what?" he prodded.

"He wants a full-sized flat screen tv, his own personal collection of dated sake, and midnight snacks delivered to him every Monday and Wednesday," Buffy shrugged, "Or at least that's what his latest bulletin notice asked for."

"Bulletin notice?" Kensei asked in confusion.

"Yeah, those annoying idiots actually put up a bulletin board outside of their door for Ichigo and I to read. They expect us to tack our responses to their demands on the board. You can only imagine the kind of things Ichigo and I have said in response," Kensei and Shinji laughed loudly at that while Toshiro just looked mildly concerned at the notion. Matsumoto didn't seem to care either way.

"Not only that, but 3 out of 4 times when I enter Halibel's room, she's completely naked," Buffy revealed and watched as Kensei and Shinji's eyebrows raised and they smiled lightly. Toshiro at least had the decency to look away in disgust. Whether it was fake or not, Buffy would never know.

"Don't get any ideas you two. First of all, if you even so much as take a peek at her, I will destroy you," Buffy snapped at Kensei and he immediately straightened up in his chair before attempting to placate her by assuring her that he wouldn't. Shinji however had become eerily silent and was lost in his thoughts as a little smile appeared on his face. Buffy rolled her eyes in disgust.

"Overall, it hasn't exactly been an episode of Oprah's life class," Buffy responded as she gulped down her drink. While Kensei and Shinji somewhat understood her comment - given that they had lived in the living world for 100 years and knew who Oprah was - Hitsugaya and Matsumoto looked completely confused.

"Maybe Yamamoto will change his mind about them and relieve you of your babysitting duties. They don't really need to be occupying my division anyway," Kensei said with a low growl. He hadn't exactly been taking their presence well either. Every time he had tried to bring his division in for training, the two espada had overtaken his training grounds to shoot off ceros at each other. This not only interrupted their training, but it had also cost Kensei some of his funding for the past couple of months because they had destroyed the majority of the 9th division's training grounds.

"Seriously. I really wanted to have that end-of-the-year party too," Buffy said sadly as she thought about the budget cut that had destroyed her party planning for the division.

"So help me, if they're at the training grounds this afternoon, I might have to hollow out on them," Kensei declared with a vengeance.

"Let's not do that," Shinji replied, finally bringing his attention back to the conversation at the table.

"So glad you could join us," Buffy commented sharply and watched as Shinji flashed her a cheesy grin.

"I would help you guys out, but I'm just not strong enough to defeat both of them myself if they decide to go rogue," Shinji commented with a look of fake terror on his face.

"Asshole," Kensei and Buffy commented at once.

"Ichigo is arriving this afternoon at least," Toshiro commented from the other side of the table, "At least he can help you out a bit by watching them this weekend."

"Yeah," Buffy agreed, "I just really think they don't need babysitting. They're not going to risk going back to the enemy and they're not going to risk making us their new enemy."

"Can't argue with that," Matsumoto commented and Buffy watched as she waited for her captain to turn his head before she poured the contents of a paper bag into her cup. Watching as Toshiro turned back around, he instantly snatched the cup away from Matsumoto and poured its contents into the nearby trash can.

"Captain! How did you even see that?" Matsumoto declared. She wasn't even disappointed. She was more impressed that he had managed to catch her with his back turned.

"I have eyes in the back of my head," Toshiro revealed and glared at her, "I told you that that stuff would damage your liver."

"It's a better way to go than facing the First," Matsumoto stated and found that no one at the table could argue with her.

* * *

"So I've sorted through these documents and highlighted the parts that might pertain to the demon of the slayer," Hisagi said as he shuffled the papers on his captain's desk and began passing out two sets to both Buffy and Kensei, "I made copies," he revealed with a smile.

"Thanks Hisagi, hopefully we'll find something in here," Buffy stated sincerely as she began to read through the document.

After several minutes, however, she realized that the documents were not in relation to her status as a vampire slayer. Instead, she realized with slight horror, that the documents were actually the discography of the heavy metal band, Slayer. Feeling embarrassed for Hisagi, she waited until he exited the room before she turned towards Kensei. She watched as he read through the documents, his face showing that he was deeply engrossed in them. She watched as his face lit up and he suddenly dropped the documents on his desk.

"Buffy, I think there is a serious problem here," he stated quietly.

"I know, Kensei, trust me I've already realized it. We're just going to have to tell Hisagi that we didn't find anything useful in the documents and thank him for his time."

"Why would we do that?" Kensei questioned seriously, "There's so much information here Buffy. Metal Storm/Face the Slayer? That 'has' to be referring to the powers that Taka-Rahn gave you. You remember that there was a storm when she possessed you right?" Kensei paused before excitedly continuing in a rush of words, "And 'The Final Command' and 'Black Magic'...that 'has' to be referring to the process used to draw the demon out of you. I'm not sure what this date is though, hmm 1983 must have been the year that the ritual was first recorded -"

"Kensei, stop it!" Buffy snapped and watched as he looked up at her in surprise.

"Buffy, what is it? Hisagi found some really good stuff here."

"Kensei, that's the discography of the heavy metal band, Slayer. All of those words you just said are tracks from their 1983 album 'Show No Mercy'. The only reason I know this is because Xander used to listen to them like his life depended on it," as Kensei's face dropped with the revelation of this new information, Buffy suddenly felt very badly for him, "It's not your fault or Hisagi's. Slayer just happens to have a lot of track titles that sound like something out of a demonology book."

"Damn...we really 'are' going to have to pretend like we didn't find anything," Kensei commented seriously, "Hisagi would be crushed if he knew the truth."

"Knew the truth about what?" the person-in-question asked as he entered the office and looked between Buffy and Kensei curiously.

"I...umm..." Buffy began awkwardly as she struggled to find words, "Well...the information that you gave us is actually the discography of the band Slayer, not actual information," she finished quietly.

Hisagi walked over and snatched the paper out of her hands before looking at it, "Oh, crap. Sorry about that, I must have mixed my research in with this by accident. I'm actually practicing some Slayer songs on the guitar with Ichigo's friend, Chad. I thought it would be really cool if we could celebrate your one-year anniversary in our division by playing you some songs by Slayer at the end of the year party. However, it looks like the party isn't happening, and now your surprise is ruined because of my carelessness."

"Oh," Buffy said quietly and then refocused her attention as her confusion settled into understanding, "OH! Oh my god, thank god. I seriously thought that you mistook this as information and I felt so embarrassed for you and then Kensei thought it was information and I had to tell him it wasn't and oh my god I really want to have that party, but you know the espada just won't leave, and the damages, and let's not even forget the massive hole in the ground that still has to be filled in and -"

"Buffy," Hisagi interrupted her rant with a small smile, "It's okay. We can try to see if we can't raise some money for a party anyway. And as for the research, I'll drop off the real documents a little later on. I'll have to recopy them."

As he left, Buffy sunk into a chair and ran her hands through her hair, "What a day," she proclaimed.

"Seriously," Kensei agreed, "And it's barely 7."

"Hmm," Buffy murmured and then watched as Ichigo entered the office flanked by Grimmjow, Halibel, and Rukia. Offering the group a small smile, Buffy waved at them.

"Hey Buffy! Kensei!" Ichigo greeted as he made his way further into the room, "How's it going?"

"It's going," Buffy responded as she kicked her feet up on to Kensei's desk.

"I guess research isn't going so well?" Ichigo asked as he dropped into the seat next to her and Rukia followed suit only to Buffy's left.

"Nope. We haven't found anything and Yama-jii is starting to get his pants in a bunch," Buffy replied with a frown.

"Have you been able to contact the Powers that Be?" Rukia asked from her left and Buffy shook her head 'no'.

"They seem to be M.I.A. lately," Buffy responded.

"Why don't you just rip the demon out of your chest?" Grimmjow asked and everyone shot him a look that instantly made him shut up.

"We did not come here to chit-chat," Halibel suddenly revealed as she stood next to Kensei's chair to address the room. Kensei looked relatively annoyed that the 3rd espada was standing too close to his chair.

"Okay, then why did you come here?" Buffy asked the rude lady.

"You were supposed to give us a tour of Rukongai. You failed in your mission and so now we are spending the evening with you as punishment."

"What?" Buffy questioned as her eyes lit up in surprise. That surprise quickly turned to annoyance as she regarded the espada, "No! You can't spend the evening with me. Kensei and I have stuff to do, I'm very busy," she declared and raised an eyebrow at her captain in concern. Tonight was their sixth month anniversary and they had made special...plans for the evening.

"Yes, we're very busy tonight," Kensei agreed looking up at Halibel, "You'll just have to hang out with Ichigo for the time being."

"What?" Ichigo demanded as he regarded the two, "I can't! Byakuya is inviting Rukia and I to dinner tonight."

"Well too bad, take tweedle dee and tweedle dumb with you," Buffy snapped and Ichigo pressed his face closer to hers.

"I'm sure that would go over real well with Byakuya. Especially since I'm trying to get on good terms with him. He's already pissed enough that I'm dating Rukia," Ichigo said as Rukia flushed red with embarrassment.

"Then drop them off at Shinji's division. That little blonde bastard owes all of us anyway for that little vacation incident last month," Kensei stated and Buffy realized he was right. Last month, Shinji had pretended that he had come down with the flu so that he could get off work and escape to Karakura town to go to the beach with the rest of the vizards. Ichigo and Rukia had caught him in the act, having been there for their own beach outing, and had blabbed on him to Buffy and Kensei. Kensei had been so furious with him for the lack of an invite, that he had sworn to take revenge.

"Hmm, that's actually not a bad idea," Ichigo replied and abruptly stood up, "Alright, fine, that's what we'll do then. See you later guys!"

As the four of them left the office, Buffy turned towards Kensei with a smile, "Nice save there, captain," she purred at him.

"Thanks," he grinned in response before standing up and leading her over to the couch, "Alright, you have to sit here and close your eyes. I have a surprise for you, but you're not allowed to see it yet."

Buffy smiled as she did what she was told, "Alright, but hurry it up, you know how impatient I am."

She heard him laugh in the background, but it came from somewhere within his bedroom. Buffy smiled at that, she definitely liked surprises that involved Kensei's bedroom. She liked them even better when it involved her underneath him in that same bedroom under the sheets of his bed. Smiling as she heard Kensei approach, she kept her eyes closed as he grasped her hands in his own and slowly pulled her to her feet. Buffy smiled again as Kensei planted a slow kiss on her lips. Reaching up to wrap her arms around him, Buffy deepened the kiss and the two battled it out for dominance before they broke apart for air.

"Alright, come this way, and no peeking!" Kensei demanded as he pulled Buffy towards the bedroom. Buffy was quiet as she was led into Kensei's room and positioned somewhere in the middle.

"Alright, now you can open your eyes. Happy Anniversary," he said from behind her.

Buffy opened her eyes to see that nearly every surface of the room was covered in lit candles. Gasping in surprise, Buffy smiled as she took in the view of not only the candles but the rose petals that were littering Kensei's bed. He was definitely a classic romantic. She moved closer to the bed as she scanned it to see a small black box residing within the center of the sheets. Suddenly nervous, she gulped loudly before reaching out to hold the box in her hands.

"Kensei, this better not be what I think it is," she said seriously. They hadn't even been dating long enough for it to be an engagement ring.

"Kensei?" she asked, hearing no response from the man behind her. Opening the box, she found that it was 'not' a ring, but instead a beautiful silver necklace that had a heart-shaped pendant on the end. The pendant was covered in beautiful diamonds, "Oh! Kensei I love it!" she said as she held it up to examine it more closely.

"Kensei?" she called again and dropped the necklace back into the box before slowly turning around.

To her horror, the man before her was currently on his knees, holding his head in his hands. Rushing over to kneel beside him, Buffy placed a hand on his shoulder and another on his face, "Kensei, what's wrong? Are you feeling okay?"

"_**I'm feeling just fine**_," said a voice that was definitely not Kensei's. Searching his face for answers, Buffy watched as his gaze rose to meet hers. Buffy was horrified to see that the sclera of both of his eyes were completely black and the iris of both of his eyes were gold.

"Kensei?" she asked again, attempting to shake him and cause him to become normal again.

"_**Kensei's not home right now, but you can leave your name and number after the scream**_."

Buffy let a silent scream escape her lips as Kensei's zanpakuto was thrust into her midsection, up to the hilt. When had Kensei become so strong? She had trained with him when he used his hollow mask before, but the level of power that he had now was ten times that previous power. She gurgled on her own blood as Kensei - or the thing that had taken over Kensei - dragged his zanpakuto upwards, cutting slowly, but deeply from her midsection to her upper torso.

"Why...are...you doing this?" she asked as she attempted to search for the eyes of her lover, and not the hollow inside of him.

"_**Why am I doing this? Why not! How could I pass up such a great opportunity!**_" the hollow laughed as he threw Buffy onto the bed and quickly removed his zanpakuto from her gut.

"_**This is fun, a lot more fun than what Kensei was planning,**_" the hollow sneered at her as he began slicing the area of skin that covered Buffy's left arm and shoulder. Buffy was suddenly jolted into action as her confusion and fear turned into an instinct of survival. Snapping her left arm outwards, she punched Kensei in the face and watched as he barely flinched. Eyes widening in horror, Buffy made to kick her foot upwards against his chest, but it was like hitting a stone. Her darkest fear - the one that she had seen come to fruition in front of the First's hooded creatures - was now really coming to life.

"What is happening?" she asked no one in particular.

"_**The death of the slayer,**_" the hollow replied as he cackled madly. Buffy grunted in protest when Kensei crawled on top of her and grabbed her wrist. Snapping it in half, Buffy cried out in pain as Kensei's hollow raked Kensei's fingers across the skin of her wrist before grasping her hand tightly in his own.

"_**Let's hold hands like lovers do,"**_he said with a twisted smile and before Buffy could react, he had easily crushed her hand. Hissing in pain, he continued to squeeze her hand until blood was gushing out of it. Buffy moaned in pain and once again attempted to plant a kick against Kensei's torso. Why was his hollow suddenly so freakishly strong? Clutching her ankle in his other hand, Kensei wrapped both hands around her ankle and snapped that too.

"_**Can't have the lover running away,**_" he snarled as he once again brought his zanpakuto down against Buffy's skin. Slicing shallow, clean cuts all along Buffy's arms and legs, she howled in pain, unable to move with Kensei's hollow practically sitting on top of her. She attempted to press the palm of her hands against his chest once more, to stop him from killing her, but he had no intention of heeding her silent pleas. Buffy's eyes were fearful as Kensei's hollow gripped her underneath her chin before slamming her head into the headboard of Kensei's bed. As stars clouded her vision, Buffy heard the wood splinter beneath her head, and she felt blood trickle from the top of her head into her eyes, momentarily stinging them. Buffy barely had time to react as both of Kensei's hands wrapped themselves around her throat and blocked her airwave. Gasping for air, Buffy clawed at Kensei's hands as he laughed madly at her. He was crushing her lungs. Pleading with her eyes, Buffy attempted to move the anvil that was pressed against her throat.

"_**Getting bored now,**_" Kensei's hollow stated with a mock-sigh.

"_**I wonder what a slayer's heart looks like,**_" he said suddenly and Buffy could see the newly kindled interest light in his eyes.

Her own widened in fear as Kensei's right hand moved over her heart. His left still had her throat in a crushing grip. As Kensei drummed his fingers against her heart, playing with her, Buffy could sense the presence of someone else in the room. Looking into the darkness, she could barely make out the figure of Whistler standing in the shadows beyond. Looking at him with pleading eyes, Buffy attempted to call for his help, but it was impossible with her airwave being crushed by her lover. Whistler, she noted, just watched with a sad frown on his face as she her lungs were being crushed and the hollow continued to tap a steady rhythm over her heart. As Whistler moved closer to the bed, Buffy noticed that Kensei's hollow could not sense Whistler's presence in the room, nor did he seem to see him as Whistler moved into his line of sight.

Leaning over the bed, Whistler reached down and patted Buffy gently on the forehead, "I'm sorry, Buffy, but I warned you," he said and Buffy looked up at him with a mix of horror, fear, rage, and general confusion displayed across her features.

"A lover must free their soul mate's sins before their soul mate can be born anew," Whistler repeated his cryptic message to Buffy as he watched the hollow's actions.

Buffy attempted to comprehend how that message related to her current situation, when she suddenly screamed in pain as Kensei's hollow dug his fingers into her flesh, breaking skin and drawing blood. She could do nothing as he shoved his hand roughly into her chest and yanked out the quintessential organ that kept all humans alive and well. Buffy watched in horror as Kensei's hollow licked her still-beating heart in an almost seductive manner before crushing it in the palm of his hands and scooping the mass of muscles and blood into his mouth. She watched in disgust as Kensei visibly swallowed what was left of her heart and licked his fingers and lips with a haunting smile. Buffy's eyes snapped towards Whistler's face.

"A lover must kill their soul mate and consume their heart, because it is the only way to rid the demon's presence - the demon's sins - from that heart and allow their lover to be born anew," Whistler stated and looked down at Buffy once more, "And in time, the soul will release the demon as well, for without the heart, the soul ceases to exist."

Buffy comprehended his words for a few seconds before a look of pure rage filled her eyes. Why did she have to die again? And why did Kensei have to be the one to kill her? As Buffy felt her body growing colder, she looked at Whistler one last time and a final thought crossed her mind as she succumbed to the darkness that was beckoning her into the beyond.

And why hadn't the fucking bastard told her that from the get-go?

* * *

\\\\\\


	10. Storm

**A/N: **Lemony scene up ahead. If you don't like lemons, then please skip! It happens right around the middle of the chapter.

**LindseyXZ: **Kensei has definitely learned his lesson :o). Unfortunately, as you saw, one of Buffy's worst nightmares came true in the form of Hollow!Kensei. I'm glad you enjoyed the humor in that chapter, though. I feel like with the type of storyline I'm writing about, it's hard to have light-and-fluffy chapters, so I try and throw some humor in every chance I get. I thought Hitsugaya reading about children's songs was kind of ironic, so I was like *shrug* "Let's do it." lol. Kensei will definitely be devastated, but fortunately, you won't have to wait a long time to see what happens!

**Fanatic-FanGirl: **Buffy has definitely survived a lot of deaths, haha. We shall see if she survives this one ;o). Also, what caused Kensei to lose control will be revealed in this chapter as well. ;OP.

* * *

|| **Chapter 10** - Storm ||

* * *

Buffy's eyes opened and she discovered that she was not in the same hallway with Whistler when she had died before coming to Soul Society. Instead, Whistler was nowhere in sight and she found that she was on some sort of island. She knew this because it was small enough so that she could look around and see clear water the color of turquoise everywhere. Pushing herself into a standing position, Buffy looked around to see if she could see any other occupants on the island, but there were none. Beginning to panic, Buffy wondered where the hell she was. Was she stuck in some sort of heaven-like dimension that involved her being stranded in the middle of a tiny island? Turning around again and again, the only thing that Buffy could see was endless ocean and several palm trees scattered throughout the island.

"Hello?" she called loudly into her surroundings.

"Hello," a voice said from somewhere nearby. Buffy whirled around and watched in amazement as a woman emerged from the water at the end of the island and greeted her. The woman was very tall and graceful as she moved towards Buffy. Buffy noticed that her hair extended down to her lower back and was the color of violet. The woman's eyes were violet as well. She was also wearing nothing but a bikini and skirt combo made entirely out of leaves.

"Okay...who are you?" Buffy questioned as she folded her arms across her chest.

"Taka-Rahn," the woman replied with a small smile.

"Taka-Rahn?" Buffy said in alarm, "You realize I've been trying to reach you for like, the past 6 months, right?"

Buffy was shocked as the woman in question suddenly threw her arms around her and embraced her tightly. Buffy stood there awkwardly, with her arms at her sides, as the almost-naked, wet woman hugged her. She was starting to soak Buffy with the water that had clung to her from her little venture into the ocean. Clearing her throat loudly, Taka-Rahn quickly removed herself from Buffy before flashing her an apologetic smile.

"I'm sorry! I'm just so excited to finally meet you. I've heard nothing but good things about you from the Powers that Be," the woman stated as she eyed Buffy up and down.

"Well that's a surprise. I thought they'd all be lining up to throw insults my way. Speaking of the Powers that Be, though, where are they?"

Taka-Rahn glanced at her in surprise, "They are not here. You are in your inner world, Buffy. I have mended your heart and spirit and filled them with my own presence so that we can be eternally connected."

"That seems a little forward for someone who I just met," Buffy replied as she glanced at Taka-Rahn with skepticism, "And where is Sineya for that matter?"

"Sineya is gone," Taka-Rahn revealed with a frown, "Once the demon was removed, so was the original slayer that connected your soul to it."

"She's gone?" Buffy said and frowned. Her sadness was briefly lived, however, as she realized she would no longer end up in the fourth division every time she encountered her sister slayer.

"Yes, but do not be afraid. I am here now," Taka-Rahn said gently as she placed a hand firmly on Buffy's shoulder.

"So I'm alive?" Buffy questioned, perking up.

"Yes," Taka-Rahn stated before squeezing her shoulder gently, "But you were dead for a time. We had to ensure that the demon would be completely removed from your spiritual presence and body. Your body is recuperating now."

"And what about Kensei?" Buffy said in alarm as she remembered the vicious hollow that her lover had turned into.

"He is back to normal," Taka-Rahn said and Buffy let a loud sigh of relief escape her lips, "We did not possess him, but we knew that the First would. We allowed it to happen because it was necessary for Kensei to draw forth the demon from your body. The only way that could happen was if a hollow extracted the demon."

"So you let him go crazy and eat my heart?" Buffy said in disbelief. What the hell had the 'Powers that Are Utterly Insane' gotten her into this time?

"If it helps, eating your heart has made him stronger. It has both strengthened the power of his hollow and his hold over that hollow. Also, it has connected you permanently to your soul mate."

"What? What? and What?" Buffy said as she stared at Taka-Rahn in confusion.

"You understand that he is now stronger," Taka-Rahn said slowly and Buffy nodded, "Well now you two are permanently bonded through each other's spirit. When Kensei partook in the ritual, your spirits momentarily overlapped and interweaved within and throughout each other's. This left a permanent connection and bond between the both of you that cannot be broken unless one of you dies."

"Okay...but what will be different between us?" Buffy asked seriously.

"When he is in pain, you will feel it. When he is sad and lonely, you will be sad and lonely as well. When a thought passes through his head, you will hear it. And if he dies, it will destroy you."

"Sounds pleasant," Buffy commented flippantly, "And by the way, I'm still not okay with my boyfriend having my heart for dinner."

"We removed those contents completely from his stomach, if it makes you feel any better. We had only ever intended for Kensei to remove your heart, not to consume it. Unfortunately, our colleague Whistler misinterpreted the message and took it a step further," Taka-Rahn said as she rolled her eyes towards the sky.

"So you 'did' possess him then?" Buffy said in confusion.

"No, but we definitely 'influenced' his possessed body to take certain actions. The First has no idea that I even suggested he do what he did in your lover's body," she added at Buffy's look, "Considering his darkness, the First automatically assumed that it was of his own will that he took the actions that he did."

"So in short, Kensei didn't really eat my heart?" Buffy demanded. She didn't know if she could live with the thought that her beating heart was being digested in Kensei's stomach.

"No," Taka-Rahn confirmed, "But he did consume the tainted part of your soul. This is what has made his hollow stronger. I replaced the missing part of your soul with my essence, which is why we are eternally bound."

"Okay, yeah, I think you mentioned that," Buffy said seriously.

After a few minutes of awkward silence, Buffy spoke again, "So you're not gonna attack me in here, right?" she demanded.

"No. Unlike Sineya, whose actions were ruled by the demon inside of her, I have a different method of teaching you what it is you need to know."

"Oh," Buffy replied in relief, "Is there anything I should know now?"

"No. Your releases will be somewhat similar to how they were with Sineya. Instead of 'Light up the sky, Sineya' when you release your shikai, however, you will replace her name with my own."

"And my bankai?" Buffy asked curiously.

"Hurricane Taka-Rahn," the person in question revealed and Buffy had to laugh at that.

"It will be easier to use my powers though, Buffy. They should come more naturally to you than Sineya's did. You will also be able to control my power of your own will, unlike the time in which you were engaged in battle against Zaraki Kenpachi of the 11th division."

"Do I get any cool upgrades?" she asked seriously.

"Yes, many," Taka-Rahn revealed with a smile, "If you thought your healing was fast before, this time it is nearly instantaneous. In fact, you are almost ready to return to your body as it is."

"Anything else?" Buffy demanded. Instant healing was nice and all, but she needed to pack a punch if she was going up against the First.

"Of course. When the time comes, you will be able to draw forth the power necessary to defeat the First."

"Yay," Buffy stated flatly.

"Also, watch out for Ichigo Kurosaki. You must protect him and take him under your wing. Train him to use the more natural form of kido that you have obtained."

"What is with you guys and all the cryptic?" Buffy demanded.

"You will no longer need to recite incantations to use your kido, Buffy. Ichigo also has that ability, but unlike you, he will not know how to use it. That being said, you must train him to use his powers."

"Oh," Buffy said, embarrassed that she had not waited patiently for further explanation.

"Is Kensei going to be okay?" Buffy asked seriously.

"He won't remember attacking you," Taka-Rahn stated and did not elaborate further.

"What does that mean? Will he be okay?" Buffy demanded.

"I do not know," the woman before her stated solemnly.

* * *

Kensei opened his eyes as sunlight filtered into his room from the window above. Holding his head in pain, Kensei briefly wondered what had happened the night before. Had he and Buffy had a lot of alcohol to celebrate their anniversary or something? No. That couldn't be true. Kensei had specifically not purchased alcohol for their special occasion so that he could savor every moment from the night without a distorted mind. The only problem was, he didn't remember any of it. Groaning at his splitting headache, Kensei looked down to discover that his captain's robes were completely drenched in blood. Gasping in horror at the sight. Kensei bolted to his feet and looked at the horror scene that was displayed before him. All of the candles that he had lit in the room the night before were now completely melted and laying on his floor in a heaping mess. But that wasn't what had attracted his immediate attention. There, in the center of his bed, Buffy was laying flat on her back and staring up at his ceiling unseeingly. Around her, his bedpost and sheets were splattered with her blood and the rose petals that he had placed on the bed had dark red spots covering them in sections, obviously coated with Buffy's blood. That wasn't the worst part, however, because Buffy's mangled body had had various, severe wounds covering it. As Kensei crawled onto the bed and held Buffy in his arms, he noticed that there was a gaping wound where her heart used to be. Gazing down at his lover in horror, Kensei pressed two fingers to the pulse point underneath her neck - even though it wasn't necessary - and confirmed for himself that she was dead.

Howling in pain, Kensei clutched Buffy's lifeless corpse to his body and buried his face into her neck. Had he done this to her? Had his hollow somehow overtaken him and caused destruction to the only person he had ever loved? Gasping at the realization that that must have been exactly what had happened, Kensei dropped Buffy onto the bed, horrified. How could he have done that to this amazing woman, who had given him a life of happiness? Shuddering as pained sobs wracked through his body, he silently mourned his love before his fear quickly overcame his grief and turned into hatred for himself. What was he going to do? They would find out that he had killed her and they would kill him. He probably deserved it though. Kensei debated just letting them find out so that he could die and be with Buffy once more. As he gripped his robes in his hands, he knew that he had to tell someone about this. He needed to get out of here and clear his head. Leaving the murder scene, Kensei quickly replaced his bloodied robes with new, fresh ones, before he locked his bedroom door, and then his office door and made to leave the division.

"Good morning captain! How are you today?" Hisagi called from Kensei's left.

"I'm fine. I'm busy," Kensei snapped at his lieutenant and watched as he frowned.

Deciding that he didn't have time to deal with the man, Kensei quickly left his lieutenant in shock as he made his way over to the 5th division. As he approached Shinji's office, he banged on the door rapidly, and heard a startled 'Come In' sound from within the office. Rushing into the middle of the office, Kensei spotted Shinji's lieutenant sitting in the corner of the room at her own desk, filling out paperwork. Eyeing her in agitation, Kensei turned towards Shinji's shocked face.

"Hinamori, would you mind leaving us for a bit?" Shinji asked his gentle lieutenant and watched as she promptly left his quarters.

"What's going on Kensei? I've never seen you this agitated and crazy before, and I've definitely seen you agitated a lot," he finished with a questioning glance.

"I don't know how to tell you this Shinji," Kensei said as his face dropped into his hands and he took a deep breath.

"Tell me what? What's going on?" Shinji prodded as he eyed the other captain who was still hiding his face from view. After several minutes of silence, Shinji sighed.

"Did you crush Buffy during sex or something? I mean, she 'is' a lot tinier than you, so I wouldn't be surprised."

As Kensei's eyes snapped upwards and met his at the mention of Buffy, Shinji's eyes widened in horror.

"Oh my god...did you really crush her during sex? I was only joking."

"No Shinji, she's dead!" Kensei shouted at his long-time friend, "I killed her and I don't even remember doing it!"

If possible, Shinji's eyes widened even more and he stood up from his seated position at his desk, "Are you sure Kensei? Are you positive you weren't just having a bad dream?"

"I held her lifeless body in my arms!" Kensei shouted again as a strangled sob escaped his lips, "I even changed my clothes before I came over here so that no one would ask questions."

"Shit," Shinji breathed as he came around his desk and placed his hand on Kensei's back.

"Where is the body?" he asked suddenly and Kensei looked at him in horror.

"What?"

"Where is the body? We need to dispose of it, and then we'll return to the world of the living. We'll have to inform Rose of course. The vizards will have to hide out together and not return here."

"What are you talking about, Shinji? We can't hide. I have to face this. I deserve to die for hurting her. For killing her."

"Kensei you're not thinking rationally right now. Once you get a little air, we'll start planning our escape."

"There's not going to be an escape!" Kensei shouted at the smaller blonde as he landed a solid punch to his jaw.

"Don't you understand? Don't you get it? I killed the woman I loved, and now I have to pay the price."

"Where is she?" Shinji asked again as he rubbed his jaw.

"In my bedroom. It was our anniversary and I killed her."

"I get it," Shinji stated abruptly, "Be level-headed Kensei. We're going to make our way over there and then figure out what to do from there."

"We're not getting rid of the body," Kensei stated flatly and Shinji didn't respond.

"Let's go," Shinji said instead as the two made their way back to the scene of the crime.

* * *

"Can I leave now?" Buffy questioned as she dipped her feet into the water below her.

"Do you want to?" Taka-Rahn questioned seriously as she joined Buffy in sitting on the sandy beach.

"I'm not sure. It's kind of nice here. It's pretty peaceful considering your power involves storms and all."

"I purposely made it so that this world was a contradiction," Taka-Rahn said with a smile, "Don't get me wrong though...when you're in a bad mood, it will show here. I'm sure I'll have storm clouds rolling in frequently."

"Hey! I'm not always in a bad mood," Buffy defended as Taka-Rahn smiled at her.

"None-the-less, always know that I am here if you need an escape. Unlike other shinigami, that have to be pulled into their inner worlds, you can visit me whenever you wish. All you have to do is close your eyes and think of this place."

"Cool," Buffy said genuinely, "So I kind of get my own mini-vacation."

"Exactly. Sometimes the champion of light needs a vacation."

"Well, as much fun as this vacation had been, I think I need to get back. Kensei is probably mega-freaking right now," Buffy said as she stood up and brushed the sand from her robes.

"That's probably for the best," Taka-Rahn replied and then gave Buffy another tight embrace, "Good luck with the First! Visit me often!"

"...Will...do..." Buffy gasped and the woman released her. Shutting her eyes, Buffy thought of Kensei's bed and willed her mind and spirit to take her back to her body.

* * *

"Okay, so is it April Fool's or do you just like giving me near-heart attacks?" Shinji questioned at the lack of dead Buffy in Kensei's room.

The room in question was completely spotless, save for a few ruffled sheets where Buffy was currently sound asleep and tossing and turning every few minutes. Kensei blinked a few times, not believing his eyes as he scanned the room for any signs that a mystical force of some sort had been there. He could find none, however, and instead he moved towards Buffy and watched the steady rise and fall of her chest. She was definitely alive and the hole where her heart had been was no longer there.

"I swear, Shinji, she was dead when I woke up this morning."

"Well either there is some serious voo doo going on here, or you've been working too hard lately. And I'm not gonna lie, I'm gonna go with the latter."

At Kensei's shocked silence, Shinji continued, "If this is all you needed to show me, I'll be back at my office getting work done," Shinji commented and before Kensei could react, Shinji had flash-stepped from the room.

Kensei made his way onto the king-sized bed and lowered his head until it was inches from Buffy's. Pressing a kiss to her forehead, he noticed that she was wearing the necklace he had bought for her. Smiling a little at the sight, Kensei pressed more kisses to Buffy's neck and forehead. Maybe he 'had' dreamed it all up after all. As he continued his assault on Buffy's neck, the girl in question's eye lids fluttered opened and her green orbs stared into his in confusion. As Kensei moved his face away from hers, she sat up in the bed and clutched his hands in her own.

"Are you okay?" she demanded in a soft voice.

"Yes, why wouldn't I be?" he questioned her and rubbed a thumb over the small area of her wrist.

"So you didn't witness anything strange this morning?" she asked and watched as his eyes widened.

"Was that real?" he questioned softly.

"Very," she replied and placed a hand on his cheek, "Taka-Rahn has officially opened for business," she stated as she pressed a hand to her chest.

"Taka-Rahn did all of that?" Kensei asked with a mixture of horror and relief.

Buffy remained silent for a few minutes and chose her words carefully, "Well, not exactly, Kensei."

Kensei, to her surprise, nodded in understanding, "I did it. I assumed as much."

"It wasn't completely you though. The First had possessed you and strengthened your hollow so that it could take over and kill me."

"It was still my fault though."

"No it wasn't. And Taka-Rahn even told me as much. She said that the 'Powers that Should Really be Slapped' influenced both the First's and your hollow's decisions so that you performed the ritual on purpose. Apparently you were supposed to extract the tainted side of my heart and soul. And, surprise, you were successful."

"So I wasn't really in control of myself?" Kensei questioned hopefully.

"Not even if you tried really hard," Buffy answered and pulled his face towards hers for a heated kiss.

"Why are you thinking about islands?" Kensei questioned seriously in between kisses, "And more importantly, why can I hear your thoughts?"

"TR as I'm officially calling her, said that during the ritual our souls intertwined or some such and bonded us permanently, meaning we can feel each other's feelings and hear each other's thoughts. I know it's pretty invasive, but we'll just have to get used to it. She made it sound like there was no way to change it."

"Oh," Kensei replied and then brought her face closer to his, "I love you so much," he whispered against her lips before capturing them in his own once again.

"I love you too," Buffy admitted as she smiled against his mouth.

"I'm sorry for killing you," he apologized as he wrapped an arm around her waist.

"I'm not," Buffy said seriously, "Well initially it kind of sucked, but now the benefits are paying off."

"Mmm," Kensei murmured against her skin as pressed his lips against her neck and pulled the sash tying her robes together lose. He gingerly removed her robes and Buffy was left lying flat on her back in nothing but her bra and underwear. He quickly removed his robes as well, and Buffy scanned the exposed skin of his muscular body hungrily.

"So I'm guessing we're continuing our anniversary, then?" She commented with a smile as Kensei planted kisses along her stomach before stopping just below her bra.

"Mmmhmm," he responded as he unclasped the hook holding together the lacy material. Kensei slid the straps off of Buffy's shoulders before he tossed the offending fabric onto the floor of his bedroom.

Buffy gasped as Kensei's lips closed around her recently exposed nipple and he sucked on it gingerly. Grasping the back of Kensei's head, Buffy brought him closer and moaned as the fingers of his left hand grazed her unoccupied nipple lightly. She was pretty much in heaven. Or as close to heaven as she could be without actually being there again. As her body arched into his touch, Kensei's hands moved lower and quickly slid off Buffy's underwear before tossing that on top of her bra. Buffy attempted to tug off his boxers but was stopped when Kensei pinned her hands above her head with his left hand and removed his own boxers with his right. Buffy noticed, with a blush, that Kensei was already painfully hard.

Moaning loudly, Buffy pressed her body closer to Kensei's as his fingers explored the area of her inner thighs before his hand settled over her heat. Closing her eyes at the sensation, Buffy moaned again as Kensei slid his index finger into her and brushed it against her walls as he moved the digit upwards in circular motions. Kensei released his grip on her hands and bit down on her lower lip. She gasped as a second finger entered her, joining the other in its ministrations. Kense's slid his tongue into her mouth as her lips parted, successfully muting any moans. As their tongues clashed together in a wild dance, Kensei's fingers returned to circle her nipples teasingly as a third finger joined the other two in teasing her womanhood. Being driven into complete ecstasy, Buffy moaned against Kensei's tongue as his fingers scraped against her walls before he removed them. Whining at the sudden lack of contact, Kensei spread her thighs further apart and pushed them upwards towards her chest as he moved his head lower down her body, breaking off their heated kiss, and planted kisses all along the way.

Buffy gasped as he pressed a kiss to her inner thigh before her gasped turned into a moan as Kensei's tongue entered her. Pulling his head closer to her, Buffy was on cloud nine as Kensei's hands slid up her stomach and over her sensitive nipples. As she closed her eyes and threw her head backwards against the pillow, Buffy moaned again at the circling motions his tongue was making within her. As he pulled his tongue out of her, Buffy was about to whine again when Kensei lifted himself up and buried his teeth against her neck, lightly nipping at the soft skin there, before he positioned himself over her entrance. Buffy prepared herself as she felt Kensei enter her and fill her up completely. He was huge. Buffy moaned as Kensei began to slowly thrust himself in and out of her, all the while assaulting her neck in a flurry of kisses.

"Fuck, Kensei go faster," she whined and felt him smile against her neck. Obeying her commands, Kensei increased his speed and thrust in and out of her more rapidly. Kensei's hands wrapped themselves around Buffy's waist and he brought their hips closer together, so that he was grinding himself more tightly against her, while simultaneously thrusting himself more deeply into her heated walls. Buffy moaned loudly at the sensation and pressed herself even more closely to him, wanting to be as close to him as possible. As the friction between them increased, the duo was lost in a sea of pleasure as their moans filled the room. Buffy panted heavily as the man above her continued to thrust into her roughly.

"Kensei...I'm gonna..." Buffy let her sentence hang in the air and Kensei nodded in understanding. He could feel himself close to exploding as well. Lifting Buffy's tiny frame up, Kensei continued to thrust in and out of her, but he angled her body in a way so that he was sure he would hit her g-spot. As he pulled out one final time, he thrust back into her roughly, grinding their hips together in the process. Buffy felt the tip of his head break through her walls and hit her g-spot. Overcome with pleasure, Buffy's eyes rolled up into her head and she saw white as she came hard beneath her lover. She felt Kensei explode within her seconds later, filling her up completely with his seed. As the duo came down from their high, they collapsed against each other, completely exhausted. As Kensei pulled out of Buffy, he rolled off of her and covered the both of them with sheets from his bed before pulling the slayer tightly against his chest and pressing a delicate kiss to the back of her neck.

The benefit of their newly formed bond was that Buffy didn't have to ask the standard 'What are you thinking about?' because she already knew. Listening in on his thoughts, Buffy heard nothing but loving thoughts being sent her way. Smiling, Buffy wrapped her arms around Kensei's before tilting her head upwards and planting a kiss against his chin. She would be perfectly fine with occupying Kensei's bed all day. It wasn't like they had anything that they really needed to do today, anyway. Actually, they had a lot of stuff to do today, but Buffy was ignoring all of it in favor of her muscular boyfriend.

"Fuck doing paperwork," Kensei muttered as he listened in on Buffy's thoughts, "Maybe we can send Hisagi a hell butterfly and make him do it."

"Be nice to him," Buffy said quietly as she smiled, "If you take him for granted then he'll start to hate you."

"Hmmmm, I could deal with that today in favor of this," Kensei decided as he rubbed his nose against her neck.

"Me too," Buffy agreed. Just as they were decided on lying in bed all day, a banging noise resounded throughout Kensei's quarters and the duo groaned loudly at the interruption.

"You answer that. I'm showering," Buffy commanded as she slid out from Kensei's arms and walked towards his bathroom.

Kensei frowned at the lack of Buffy in his arms before he heard the shower running. Pulling on his robes quickly, Kensei made his way to the door of his office and swung it open to reveal Hisagi standing there with a stack of papers and a concerned look on his face. Letting him into the office, Kensei watched as Hisagi brought the papers over to the coffee table and began to fill them out.

"Are you alright, Captain? You seemed a little agitated this morning."

"Yeah," Kensei responded lazily, "Sorry about that...it was just a misunderstanding," he explained and Hisagi nodded.

"It's okay. I'll just finish up these papers for your approval."

"Alright. If you'll excuse me, I'm gonna take a shower."

Kensei reentered his room and let a smile slip onto his face as he heard the shower still running. Tearing off his clothes rapidly, Kensei slipped into the shower behind Buffy and wrapped his arms around her waist, "It was Hisagi. He's in the office doing paperwork."

"Boo," Buffy commented as she leaned against his chest and rinsed the soap out of her hair.

"Hmmm, I can send him away if you want. Last chance," he added.

"As tempting as that is, we have to leave the division sometime," she stated as Kensei poured a generous amount of body wash into his hands and rubbed it into Buffy's shoulders and back.

"On the other hand, we never really get a day off," Buffy breathed as her back arched into his touch.

"We really don't," he agreed before rinsing off her body and scrubbing shampoo into his own hair.

"But, I'm getting hungry and we kind of have to tell our little research team that our research sessions are no longer necessary."

"True," Kensei replied and a few minutes later the duo emerged from the shower and quickly got dressed. Kensei left his bedroom first to see that Hisagi had placed the stack of papers on his desk and left.

"Coast is clear," he announced as Buffy also stepped out into the office.

"Kensei...food...now," she whined and rubbed her tummy for emphasis.

"Alright, let's go," he agreed as they made their way to the dining hall.

Minutes later, the duo settled themselves at their usual table as they dug into their breakfast. Watching as Shinji entered the dining hall and promptly sat at their table, Buffy couldn't help but notice that he looked like someone had kicked his puppy. Dropping her fork against her plate as Buffy finished off her omelet she moved to grab a piece of toast as she regarded Shinji through her hunger-induced haze.

"What's up with you, Shinj? You look like hell."

"Yeah well, those kids that you had me babysit last night completely destroyed the majority of my division's training grounds this morning and broke a few windows in the barracks. This is going to cost me a lot of money."

Buffy and Kensei exchanged knowing looks as a smile settled itself onto Buffy's mouth, "Maybe you should think about that the next time you ditch work to go to the beach."

"Che," Shinji huffed as he snatched a piece of bacon off of Buffy's plate - much to her protest - and popped it into his mouth, "So how are you feeling this morning? Kensei had a pretty terrible nightmare that you died."

As Buffy shot Kensei a questioning look, he just shrugged, "I did die, Shinji. I just happened to come back to life a little later on this morning."

At Shinji's look of surprise and then confusion, Buffy filled the blonde in on all the events preceding and succeeding her 'resurrection'. Well, all of the events except for the post-death, post-resurrection love-making session that she and Kensei had engaged in less than an hour ago.

"Sorry I doubted you," Shinji told Kensei as he took a long sip from his cup of coffee.

"It doesn't matter. The important thing is that Buffy is alive and she has Taka-Rahn's power. Now we can brace ourselves for the First's next attack."

"Bite your tongue," Buffy told him as she bit into her toast, "For all we know, you just jinxed us into having the war tomorrow."

Kensei rapidly knocked on the wooden table, "There," he commented, trying to appease the woman across from him.

Buffy smiled in satisfaction at the action before lathering more jam onto her toast, "So what's the game plan for today? Drugs, alcohol, or training?"

"All of the above," Shinji answered for Kensei as he leaned back in his chair, "Though I don't know where we'd get the drugs from."

"I'm pretty sure Unohana hides a stash of weed in the hospital bay," Buffy commented nonchalantly, "I thought I smelled it when her barracks were on fire during the first stage of the war.

"That would explain why I kept eating everything in sight after the battle," Shinji commented in amusement.

"I'm pretty sure that was just because you're a fat ass," Kensei retorted as he glanced over at the nearly anorexic captain of the 5th division.

"Then what does that make Hachi?" Shinji wondered aloud as Kensei snorted into his napkin.

"You guys are so mean to each other," Buffy commented as she stood from her seat, "Let's go report in to the captain commander before he gives Captain Kurotsuchi the 'all-clear' to kidnap me."

"Sounds like a plan," Kensei commented as he followed Buffy to the first division while Shinji returned to his own, but not before dropping off the two espada back to their temporary home in the 9th division.

* * *

Buffy watched as the captain commander glanced at her curiously after her revelation, "It seems that every time I take my eyes off of you, something happens that I don't know about."

"Well on the bright side, at least you don't have to witness the majority of the gruesome incidents I get myself involved in," Buffy responded earnestly.

"Thank goodness for small favors," Yamamoto agreed as folded a paper in front of him and tossed it into the recycling bin on his left.

Buffy suddenly heard Kensei's voice in her head, asking her if she was going to tell Yamamoto about the bond that they now shared. Buffy decided that it probably wasn't a good idea and told Kensei as much. She wanted to keep that aspect of the ritual between the two of them, and Taka-Rahn, only.

"If we're done here, I would like to request permission for my 3rd seat and I to take a trip to the living world this week," Kensei requested of Yamamoto as Buffy stared at him in shock.

'_You didn't tell me you wanted to go there,_' Buffy mentally told him and waited for his reply.

'_I literally only just decided it now. I think it would be a good idea for you to train Ichigo on how to use incantation-less kido in a place that he's more comfortable and familiar with. We can even take the espada along and Ichigo can practice his kido on them. That way, if he accidentally blows them up, we can have our budget back for the party._'

Buffy laughed loudly at Kensei's last comment and the captain commander looked at her as if she was insane, "Is something funny, Miss Summers?" he demanded.

"I, uh, was just thinking about something funny that Ichigo told me...and was reminded of it at my Captain's request," Buffy lied.

'_Smooth,_' she heard Kensei say to her mentally.

'_Shut up. This is your fault,_' she replied.

"Why do you want to go to the living world?" Yamamoto asked the 9th division captain.

"Because Buffy - as you now know - is supposed to train Ichigo to use incantation-less kido. I think Kurosaki would be more comfortable learning how to use the kido in his own home. We can even take the espada with us to keep an eye on them."

Yamamoto seemed to reflect on this thoughtfully for a moment, "Very well," he responded before looking up at Kensei, "I grant you permission to stay in the living world for one week beginning this Monday."

"Thank you, sir," Kensei responded as he and Buffy left.

Buffy couldn't help but feel excited at the thought of travelling to the living world. Even though she knew she would not see her friends or family there, it was still exciting to travel to a new place. Especially one that was not filled by creepy 12th division captains. She could only hope that she was able to teach Ichigo as much as possible regarding kido before she had to return to soul society with Kensei.

* * *

/\\\


	11. Ups & Downs

**A/N: **I hadn't intended to have a 'birds & the bees' discussion in this chapter, so I'm not really sure how that one happened. *Scratches Head* O.O" Please skip if you'd rather not be tormented, haha.

This is a fairly long chapter. Why? I don't know. You tell me. Seriously though, please tell me haha.

Anyway, joking aside, I'm fairly impressed that I got this done in between work and writing my own original novel.

And...learning Japanese. Yes. For some reason I decided to go and start purchasing language CDs from Pimsleur because I heard that the Pimsleur approach pretty much had you fluent by the end of all the lessons. Wish me luck. I'm finding that I'm already getting a better grasp on the language than I did with French in high school. Somehow I think it's a mixture of the technique and the fact that I'm super interested in the language for once.

* * *

|| **Chapter 11** - Ups & Downs ||

* * *

"What do you mean you're not coming?" Buffy demanded as she leaned over her boyfriend's desk.

"I can't," Kensei said simply as leaned back in his chair, afraid that Buffy might actually murder him with the look in her eyes.

"You're the one that set the whole trip up!" Buffy declared as she threw her arms into the air.

"I know, but Yama-jii said he needed me to go on a side mission in Rukongai. He said something about children going missing there."

"I don't care about the children!" Buffy said angrily and then realized what she had said. Shaking her head she cleared her throat, "That's not what I meant. I just mean, I don't understand why another Captain can't take care of it."

"Yama-jii said everyone else was busy working on their own project."

"That old man is making things up," Buffy whined as she slumped into the chair behind her and tossed her duffle bag on the chair next to her.

"Maybe so," Kensei agreed as he took a long sip from his water bottle, "But his orders are final."

"Why doesn't he want you to go with me?" Buffy asked aloud as she looked up at the ceiling in quiet reflection.

"Maybe he knows that we're becoming too close and doesn't want us to lose sight of our priorities," Kensei responded and watched as Buffy fixed him an icy glare.

Holding his hands up in defense, Kensei continued, "I'm just saying, that's what he's probably thinking. It's usually not really a good thing for a captain to mix business with pleasure. It makes them focus on other things..." he trailed off as his gaze trailed over her body.

"Well, it sucks," Buffy said, purposely ignoring his lust-filled gaze, "Where am I supposed to stay? No offense, but I don't really want to stay with your crazy friends without you there."

Kensei shrugged at her, he couldn't really blame her for that. Staying with Hiyori alone was a nightmare let alone the rest of them, "Maybe you can stay with Kurosaki's family."

"Maybe," she agreed thinking of the bright-haired teen, "I hope he lets me."

"Don't worry so much about it. Everything will be fine. You're just stressed because this is your first time in a year going back to the living world," Kensei answered as he moved out from behind his desk and squeezed Buffy's shoulders from behind.

Buffy couldn't help but agree with him. Kensei was exactly right. The only reason she was freaking out about this week-long mission was because she would be back in the living world, where there was a slight chance that she might encounter her family or friends or even newly-appointed slayers. Not that the new slayers would know who she was. There was also only a minimal chance that she would encounter the scooby gang in Karakura Town. Buffy highly doubted that the first place any of them would travel to was Japan, let alone a small town like Karakura. Leaning her head back to gaze up at her boyfriend, Buffy sighed.

"I know," she admitted and then smiled as he planted a kiss on the top of her head.

"Everything will be fine," he repeated as he swung her duffle bag onto his shoulder, "Come on. I'll take you to the gate."

"Hmm...seems like someone is in a hurry to rush me out the door," Buffy complained as she followed him out of his office.

"Trust me, I'm not. If it were up to me I'd go with you in a heartbeat. The only reason I'm anxious is because I'm supposed to leave for my own mission soon," he confessed as he wrapped an arm around her waist and pretty much crushed her against him.

"...Can't...breathe..." Buffy gasped and Kensei loosened his grip on her with a laugh.

"I'm not really looking forward to spending the week together with a bunch of love-sick idiots," an obnoxious voice called from behind them.

Buffy turned and watched as Grimmjow hurled his luggage out of his door and then proceeded to slam it shut with enough force that his bedroom window rattled. Kensei narrowed his eyes at the near-damage that was almost caused by Grimmjow's carelessness. The blue-haired espada quickly picked up his luggage before he turned towards the duo with a wicked grin. Buffy rolled her eyes.

"First of all, Kensei's not going anymore. Secondly, I don't call babysitting you a vacation either."

"Suck it up, slayer, I didn't ask anyone to babysit me. I had more freedom living under Aizen's rule than I do here."

"Shut up," Kensei snapped at the espada, "Soul Society has been very generous to the two of you."

Grimmjow remained silent at that comment. He couldn't exactly argue with it. He had been living in Soul Society for six months now and no one had tried to kill him or arrest him. Buffy watched as another door opened behind Grimmjow and Halibel stepped outside wearing barely-there jean shorts and a white tank top that she had purposely cut so that it rested just below her generous bosom. Swinging her pony tail over one shoulder, Halibel reached behind her and produced her own luggage before moving towards the duo. Grimmjow huffed at the other espada before following her lead.

"Hmmm," Buffy said quietly and Kensei gave her a questioning look.

'_I think Grimmjow has a crush on her_,' Buffy revealed as she regarded the blue-haired espada while he kept his eyes on Halibel.

'_I think you're right_,' Kensei agreed and hooked his thumb over his shoulder.

"Let's get going," he demanded.

Moments later, they arrived at the gate leading to Karakura Town. Buffy watched as the two espada went on ahead. Buffy paused and turned back to Kensei. She flashed him a little smile before reaching up to give him a brief kiss on the lips.

"Have fun and say hello to Ichigo for me," Kensei said as he reached down and gave her another kiss.

"I'll miss you," Buffy declared as she took her duffle bag from him, "Love you."

"Love you too," Kensei answered and smiled at her as she made her way to the gate. Giving him a little wave, Buffy quickly joined the two espadas and stepped through the gate.

* * *

As Buffy emerged from the gate, she noticed that they were standing in a small shop of some sort. There were many crates full of various odd-looking things and some crates full of candy. The shop looked much like a little mom & pop shop that sold random oddities. Buffy had no idea where exactly they landed but she was glad that it wasn't crowded with a ton of people. That would have looked a little more than suspicious. Looking around, Buffy immediately spotted Urahara smiling at them from across the room.

"Well hello Buffy, Grimmjow, and Halibel," he greeted as he waved his fan at them.

"Hey Urahara," Buffy responded and noted that the two espadas didn't bother with greetings. Rude.

"Ichigo is waiting for you at the Karakura Kandy Shop with some of his friends, Buffy," Urahara told her before walking further into his shop, "I have your gigai ready over here."

"My what?" Buffy asked curiously as she followed the mysterious shop keeper. She watched, in alarm, as he brought out a human-looking body that looked exactly like her.

"What the hell is that?" Buffy cried in alarm.

"It's a gigai," Urahara said again, "It's basically an artificial body that your spirit can inhabit so you can walk around the world of the living freely. This one in particular does not have a spiritual pressure suppressant, so you'll have to make sure not to blow up anything while you stay here."

"I need a body to move around here?" Buffy asked as Urahara dumped her own body into her arms.

"Well, not necessarily, but in order to be seen by the occupants of Karakura town you will need one."

"Why do I care about them seeing me?" Buffy asked curiously. She would love to remain invisible if it meant avoiding any awkward encounters with new slayers or the scooby gang.

"Well, if you go shopping or go somewhere to eat, the shop keepers will need to be able to see you so you can pay," Urahara responded with a little smile.

"Oh," Buffy answered sheepishly, "Okay...how do I get into it?"

"You step into it. It might be a little hard because it's your first time. Just take it slowly."

Buffy frowned at that and then attempted to step into her gigai-thing. Her feet went in smoothly, but she was having a rough time trying to get the rest of her spirit in it. It was extremely stiff. It was almost like someone had tried to stretch a rubber glove over a bowling ball. As she roughly shoved herself into her gigai, she blacked out for a moment and then was suddenly looking at Urahara once again. Stretching her muscles to loosen them up, Buffy attempted to sort out the kinks before she looked at what she was wearing. Urahara - or someone else, she hoped - had dressed her in a pair of maroon jeans and a hideous orange top. Frowning in disgust, Buffy pointed a finger at her outfit and then at Urahara.

"This won't do at all. My god, if Cordelia could see me now," she whined at her outfit.

"You can always go shopping after you meet up with Ichigo," Urahara stated with a small laugh at her misfortune. It was obvious that the bastard had done this on purpose.

"What about these two over here?" Buffy demanded as she watched the espada wander around Urahara's shop curiously.

"I'll be taking them into the training facility underneath this shop so that they can expel some energy before you and Ichigo get here."

"So they don't have to wear these gee-eye things?" Buffy huffed and watched as Grimmjow grinned at her from across the room.

"Gigais...and no. I think if either one of them were to wander around Karakura town, they would draw more than just a little attention. At least you lived in the living world not too long ago. Nothing around here should be unfamiliar to you except for the currency maybe, but I think someone already told you how to count it?"

Buffy nodded. Kensei had taught her how to count and use the Japanese yen. That particular lesson had been an extremely long one because Buffy had no idea how to count the money and recognize what the U.S. equivalent was. Kensei and Buffy had blown up at each other several times that day and it got to the point that Kensei called Shinji over to teach her the rest instead. The much more patient captain had shown Buffy how to use the currency with little effort.

"Alright, well the Karakura Kandy shop is just around the corner. Take a left out of this alleyway and it should be on your right after about two blocks," Urahara stated as he poured himself a cup of tea and gently stroked the cat sitting on top of the table behind the ears.

"Okay. I'm out of here then," Buffy stated before turning to the two espada in the room, "Behave yourselves. If you don't, I will send you back to soul society as a walking bruise."

"Che. As if we would bother causing a ruckus anyway. This place is boring," Grimmjow declared as he eyed the shop keeper suspiciously.

"Extremely boring," Halibel agreed as she followed Grimmjow's gaze and Urahara glanced back at the two nervously.

"Enough with the staring matches," Buffy snapped, "Okay, I'll see you all later on."

As she left the shop and made her way to the candy store, Buffy looked at all of the clothing shops down the strip and nearly salivated She was definitely going to have to hit them up after her meeting with Ichigo. As she made her way into the candy shop, Buffy was overwhelmed by all of the plastic dispensers full of candy. She was definitely going to have to purchase a lot for both Kensei and herself. Seeing Ichigo standing with Rukia and a girl and boy that she didn't know, she made her way over and waved at the four of them.

"Hey Buffy!" Ichigo greeted with a warm smile.

"Hey Ichigo, Hey Rukia!" She responded and also flashed them a smile.

"Did Kensei not come with you?" Rukia questioned as she noticed his absence.

"No, the commander sent him on some other mission," Buffy replied with a roll of her eyes.

"Oh," Rukia responded before patting her arm lightly, "I'm sure it was important then."

"Buffy, I'd like you to meet my friends, Orihime and Ishida," Ichigo said as he gestured towards the people in question.

"Don't lump me in as your friend," Ishida snapped as he pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose before shaking hands with Buffy, "It's nice to meet you, Buffy."

Ichigo rolled his eyes at Ishida before Orihime carefully made her way over and also shook Buffy's hand nervously, "Hello, Buffy! It's a pleasure to meet you," she said in a gentle voice.

"It's nice to meet you guys too! I'm definitely going to have to fill up on some candy while I'm here," she commented as she looked around the shop.

"You should...it's amazing," Ichigo said seriously and tore a couple of bags off of a nearby rack and gave them to her, "When do you want to start training?"

As Buffy began to fill up her bags with different chocolates and other various sweets, she turned back to look at Ichigo, "I figured we could start around 1. It's 11 now, so that gives me time to fix my wardrobe situation," she paused and gestured to her outfit, "And it'll give us time to grab lunch."

"Sounds good," Ichigo said as Buffy moved to pay at the register, "We're all going to grab lunch at a cafe not too far from here around 12, do you wanna join us?"

"Sure," Buffy said brightly as she paid for her goodies and put them in her oversized purse, "I think I'm going to head out and do some shopping and meet you guys there."

"Alright, sounds like a plan," as he was about to leave with his group of friends, he suddenly turned towards her, "Oh, Buffy. You're more than welcome to crash at my house this week. You might have to sleep on the couch, but it's comfy."

"Thanks Ichigo! That would be awesome," Buffy breathed as a sigh of relief escaped her. There was no way she was staying with the espada in Urahara's shop.

She watched as the group left and she waited a few minutes before she left as well. Entering the first clothing shop she came to, She immediately began scanning the racks for clothing. After picking out several skirts, tops, jeans, and dresses, Buffy bought a few pairs of sneakers, boots, and high-heels before she went to pay at the register. She knew her shopping spree was a bit excessive considering the fact that she would only be in Karakura town for a week, but she really couldn't help herself. Glaring at the $400 charge that appeared on the cash register, Buffy quickly handed over the cash before she left the shop. That was at least half of her paycheck down the drain. Not that she could complain. Before she had died she was making $0. As she quickly entered a cafe next to the clothing shop, she went into the bathroom and changed into a pair of black skinny jeans and a form-fitting turquoise tank top that had black flowers sewn into the left strap. Pulling on a pair of high-heeled black boots, Buffy quickly made her way out of the establishment and looked for the cafe that Ichigo had mentioned early. It was nearly 12 and she didn't want to be late. Spotting the cafe almost instantly, Buffy crossed the street and entered the bustling establishment.

She spotted Ichigo waving at her from across the room and immediately made her way over before sitting next to Rukia in the booth, "Hey guys!" she greeted again and placed her many bags onto the floor next to her, much to the annoyance of their waiter.

Buffy quickly ordered herself an iced tea and a bowl of pork ramen before she turned back towards the group, "I got a little carried away with shopping. The whole 'wearing robes everyday' thing is a little boring."

"We can see that," Ichigo commented before Rukia elbowed him.

"Yeah, soul society doesn't have much of a wardrobe choice," Rukia agreed as she sipped on her tea.

"It's becoming a serious problem," Buffy said as she sighed.

"So, Buffy, how long have you been a shinigami?" Ishida asked from across the table and both Rukia and Ichigo shot him a glare, "What?"

"Ishida, you idiot, that's basically the equivalent of asking a woman her age," Ichigo stated and Rukia nodded in agreement.

"It's okay guys, really, I've been a shinigami for about a year now."

"How do you like it?" Inoue asked her as she snapped her hair clip back into place.

"It's fun, I guess. Dangerous, but everyone is really nice and I'm making a lot of friends, so it's not too bad. I do miss my family though."

Everyone frowned at that. Missing your family was unavoidable, and it definitely left a hole in recently deceased souls.

"It gets easier to bare with time," Rukia stated quietly.

"I hope so," Buffy said seriously, "I'm starting to forget what they looked like," she joked and everyone stared at her seriously, "What?" she asked curiously.

"Well..." Rukia trailed off as she tried to figure out a way to approach the subject, "Some people actually do forget their time spent in the world of the living. Some forget it instantaneously and others - like myself - forget it over time."

Buffy's eyes snapped to Rukia's in horror, "What? I can't forget them!" she nearly shouted and then remembered she was in a crowded area, "I don't want to forget them," she added as an afterthought.

"You may not," Rukia said with a shrug, attempting to placate her friend, "It various between people. It depends on how strong their will is."

Buffy frowned at that. She really hoped that her will was strong enough to always remember her friends and family. As their food finally arrived, Buffy found that she was no longer that hungry. Taking a few sips of her soup, she dropped her spoon into the bowl and sighed deeply. The others looked over to her as their conversation died down and she gave them a weak smile. Excusing herself and leaving enough money on the table to cover her meal and the tip, Buffy quickly left the cafe and started to walk back towards Urahara's shop before she spotted a park along the way and walked through that instead. Seating herself on a bench, Buffy crossed her legs and thought about what Rukia had told her. Would she really forget her friends and family? The people that she had adored and loved?

No. She was determined not to forget them, she decided. As she watched children play around the park she was suddenly alerted to the presence of someone walking towards her. Looking up at the man as he made his way over to her, Buffy took in his features briefly. He was pale and had shaggy, straight black hair and bangs that hung in his face at different angles. His dark emerald-green eyes pierced hers before he seated himself next to her. Buffy noticed that he was wearing a short-sleeved, black, button-down shirt and jeans. His green sneakers crunched the grass beneath them as he turned towards her.

"Are you Buffy Summers?" He asked quietly and waited for her reply.

"That depends...who's asking?" She questioned seriously as she moved slightly away from the stranger.

"The Powers that Be...brought me here, and did not give me enough accurate information as to what I was supposed to do. They merely stated that I should look for a woman by the name of Buffy Summers and gave me a physical description that seemed to match yours. Also, your spiritual pressure is alarming, even with it being reigned in," the man said as he folded his hands in his lap.

"The Powers that Be," Buffy breathed and closed her eyes as she felt a headache coming on, "They really don't know when to quit," she hissed as she opened her eyes and looked at the man, "Well, you're in luck because I 'am' Buffy Summers."

"It is a pleasure to meet you, Miss Summers, my name is Ulquiorra Schiffer," the man stated with a small smile as he shook her hand.

"It's nice to meet you too," Buffy replied as she shook his hand, "So you said the Powers sent you?"

"Yes. They mentioned that Grimmjow Jaggerjack and Tier Halibel would be with you, but I do not see them anywhere," he frowned as he looked around her as if they would spring out and yell 'surprise' at any given moment.

"You're friends with the espada?" Buffy questioned in shock as her eyes widened at him.

"Hmm, that is an overstatement," the man replied with a shake of his head, "I merely worked with them in the past. I used to be an espada," he revealed and Buffy's eyes widened even further.

"You're not anymore?"

"No. I was defeated in combat by Kurosaki, Ichigo," Ulquiorra revealed and watched as Buffy frowned and then became suspicious.

"You're not evil are you?"

"Hardly. Would the Powers send me if I was?" he countered.

"Probably not, but I never know when it comes to them. They're pretty shady."

"Like I said, I am no longer an espada," Ulquiorra stated as he ran a hand through his hair, "I am more or less human now."

"Human?" Buffy questioned in surprise.

"Well...more than human I guess. The Powers resurrected me and then gave me some sort of power. They said that it would directly help in the battle against the First's army of mahlorah."

Buffy was once again reminded of the red-eyed, hooded creatures as she regarded her companion, "Do you know what that power is?"

"No. Like I mentioned before, they did not provide me with adequate information."

"Sounds like something the Powers would do," Buffy chirped as she rose from the bench she was sitting on just in time to hear a shout sound off from the entrance of the park. Turning around, Buffy watched as Ichigo ran over to them and then nearly fell over at the sight of Ulquiorra.

"What the hell? What is going on?" he demanded as he pointed a finger at Ulquiorra, "You're supposed to be dead. I killed you."

"Trust me, Kurosaki, Ichigo, I had no intention of returning to the world of the living."

"Then why are you here?" he demanded as he looked over at Buffy.

As Ulquiorra quickly reiterated his story, Ichigo's face darkened into a scowl, "These Powers seem like a bunch of idiots."

"Pretty much," Buffy agreed as she slapped Ichigo on the back, "Let's get to training. Maybe Urahara can help us out with this guy," Buffy said as she gestured towards Ulquiorra, who was now eyeing the children playing around him with curiosity.

"Yeah, I guess," Ichigo agreed and the trio made their way to Urahara's shop. As they entered the underground training facility - having not seen anyone in the main shop - more shouts sounded off from the desert landscape before them.

"Well if it isn't the green-eyed, emo bastard," Grimmjow said with a laugh and then noticed that Ulquiorra was vastly different from the espada that he had known before, "What happened to you?"

Buffy and Ichigo waited patiently as the former-espada in question recounted his story for a third time to his audience. As Buffy tuned out the story, her gaze wandered around the room and landed on a dark-skinned woman that was standing next to Urahara. The woman had bright purple hair and was listening to Ulquiorra's story with mild interest.

"Sounds like a bunch of bullshit," the woman stated as Ulquiorra finished his story. Buffy already liked her.

"Yourichi," Urahara scolded teasingly as he eyed his companion, "Well...if the powers are sending more and more people to help, then maybe we aren't taking this war as seriously as we should."

"I don't know about you, but I've been taking it pretty damn seriously," Buffy snapped as she eyed the crazy shop keeper with a sharp glare.

"Of course, my apologies," he said as he hid behind his fan.

"And who is this?" Yourichi stated loudly as she made her way over to Buffy and sized her up.

"Buffy Summers," Buffy greeted as she shook the woman's hand.

"Shihoin Yoruichi, but you can call me Yoruichi," she responded with a wide smile as she also shook Buffy's hand.

"So whose division do you belong to?" Yoruichi asked her.

"The 9th, under Captain Muguruma Kensei," Buffy responded and watched as Yoruichi's face lit up with a grin.

"So, Kensei's, eh? Interesting," Yorucihi said with a mischievous glint in her eye.

"I guess," Buffy reluctantly agreed.

"Well...he's not exactly known for being calm, it might be kind of fun to watch him explode all the time," Yourichi said thoughfully.

"It is pretty hilarious," Buffy agreed before turning towards Ichigo, "You wanna get started?"

At Ichigo's nod, Yoruichi jabbed Urahara in the ribs, "Let's leave the kids to their training, Kisuke. We don't want to get in the way."

Urahra nodded dumbly as he followed the purple-haired woman up the steps. Turning back to the group of people before her, Buffy placed her hands on her hips.

"Alright, let's get down to business."

"Do 'they' have to be here, too?" Ichigo complained as he looked around at both the espada and former espada.

"Well, no, but I thought you could try out your kido on them," Buffy replied with a small smile.

"They can stay," Ichigo said with a twisted grin.

"Hey! Since when are we target practice?" Grimmjow sneered from across the training grounds.

"Since you opened your big ass mouth," Buffy retorted and watched as Ichigo started to laugh.

"We will see who uses who for target practice," Halibel said quietly as she eyed both Buffy and Ichigo with a cold stare.

Ichigo cleared his throat several times at that, "What will you do, Ulquiorra?" he asked, looking over to the former espada.

"I suppose I will watch," Ulquiorra stated with a frown, "Just try not to hurt each other too much."

Ichigo shuddered at the actual look of concern that passed over Ulquiorra. He was not used to seeing the espada act so 'human', "Okay, I guess," he agreed and then turned towards Buffy, "What are we learning first?"

"Fire-based kidos without an incantation," Buffy declared as she stepped into the middle of the training facility. She had been up all night the night before, thinking of what her first day of training Ichigo would consist of, much to the annoyance of Kensei, who had been trying to sleep while Buffy bounced ideas off of him.

"Alright, so how do I do it?" Ichigo asked as he stood next to Buffy.

"You almost have to reach out to the flames with your mind," Buffy said as she closed her eyes.

"Huh?" Ichigo questioned dumbly and Buffy opened her eyes.

"Like...a mental photograph," Buffy elaborated, "You have to imagine yourself feeling the heat, and then imagine things like a forest fire or a candle's flame, whatever helps to get the image in your head. Then - along with that image - you gather your energy and push it outwards from your body, and if you've done everything right, you should have a toasty little fire sprouting from the palms of your hands."

"A mental photograph..." Ichigo repeated as he closed his eyes and tried to imagine a raging fire. As he pushed his energy outwards, like Buffy suggested, he heard Grimjow cackling madly. Opening his eyes, he saw that nothing but black smoke was wafting out of his hands.

"Grimmjow, shut the hell up if you're not going to be helpful," Buffy snapped and then turned towards Ichigo, "That was a good start. Smoke eventually means fire," she said and flashed him a little smile.

"Think of the fires of hell," Ulquiorra stated and everyone turned to look at him curiously.

"I've never even been to hell, why would you suggest that?" Ichigo questioned the former espada.

"Because I have," Ulquiorra said quietly as he closed his eyes, "And you do not simply forget those kind of fires."

"What?" Ichigo said in surprise as he looked over at the former espada, "Why would you go to hell?"

"I was not there for a vacation," Ulquiorra said sadly as he opened his eyes, "I was sent there after our battle to atone for my sins. Unfortunately for my tormenters, they did not realize that I did not have a heart and therefore the torture only affected me physically."

"Why would they send you there?" Ichigo asked clearly horrified and he let his question hang in the air.

"At least, it couldn't affect you emotionally," Buffy supplied unhelpfully.

"Not then, anyway," Ulquiorra revealed and Buffy saw the pain hidden in his eyes. He had obviously remembered everything from his time there and it was now eating away at him from the inside. She frowned in sympathy. She remembered what Angel had been like when he came back from hell.

"You went to hell?" Grimmjow asked as he swung his zanpakuto over his shoulder, "Lame."

"Your lack of sympathy is just as astonishing as it has always been," Halibel chided the blue-haired espada and watched as he shrugged uncomfortably under her gaze.

"Well you have friends now," Ichigo declared as he folded his arms over his chest with resolve in his eyes, "We will help you whenever you need it."

Buffy suddenly felt the urge to hug Ichigo at his words. The teenager was really surprising at times with his care, and it always caught Buffy off-guard, in a good way, "He's right," she agreed and smiled at Ulquiorra, "Just because the Powers that Are a Hot Mess threw you down here without a clue as to what direction you should go in, doesn't mean you should feel lost. Consider us your friends. We'll help you find a place in this shitty world called life."

"Thanks," Ulquiorra said and flashed both of them a warm smile. In the background Grimmjow promptly shouted something about "Never said I was his friend!" before a crack sounded and a low moan escaped the espada. Buffy didn't have to turn around to know that Halibel had dealt her own form of punishment to Captain Arrogance.

"Okay, well, Ichigo you should try again," Buffy declared and the teen nodded.

"Think about things that make you angry even," Buffy added as Ichigo closed his eyes, "I know the First always works for me. Maybe something else will work for you."

Buffy watched as Ichigo stretched out his palms and instantly send a ball of fire careening towards a mountain in the distance that promptly crashed with a resounding 'boom'. Looking at Ichigo in alarm, she watched as he opened his eyes and smiled sheepishly at the scene before him. As he ran a hand through his wild hair he turned around to look at the surprised faces around him.

"What?" he asked curiously.

"What made you 'that' angry?" Buffy asked, her face still a mask of shock.

"The Grand Fisher that killed my mom," Ichigo admitted as he narrowed his eyes at the invisible foe from his memory.

"Oh," Buffy said and then patted Ichigo on the arm, "Well you certainly learned how to do fire kido a lot faster than I thought you would."

"So that method works for all forms of fire?" Ichigo asked skeptically.

"Pretty much, " Buffy answered, "As long as you can produce the fire you can mould and shape it and use it in various ways over time. You can train how to do that later once we get all the basics down."

"Sounds good," Ichigo said with determination in his eyes, "So what's next?"

* * *

A few hours had passed and Ichigo had made an enormous amount of progress. He had now learned the basics to about half of the kido that Buffy could teach him. That kido included fire, ice, water, lightning, and barrier kidos. Tomorrow's lesson would focus solely on healing kido because Buffy knew it was extremely important for Ichigo to be able to heal himself rapidly during their battle against the First.

Buffy watched as Urahara descended the stairs to the training facility and she knew it was about time to wrap up her training session with Ichigo. Even though it still looked like mid-day in the training room, she had a suspicious feeling that once they moved upstairs, it would be dark out. Turning towards the shop keeper, Buffy picked up a towel she had brought with her below the training facility and wiped her face free of any dirt or sweat.

"What's up Kisuke?" she asked, even though she knew the answer.

"It's around 6. You guys should probably head back to the Kurosaki's for dinner and sleep," Urahara commented and Buffy picked up her water before chugging half the bottle.

"Sounds good. Are you ready to go, Ichigo?" she questioned and turned to see the teen panting heavily before he thirstily gulped down his own water.

"Yeah, definitely," he agreed as they made their way to the stairs.

"And don't forget your belongings, Buffy!" Urahara called with a high-pitched voice and smile.

Buffy watched as he turned to the espada before adding, "I'm going to get these guys settled in. I'll see the two of you tomorrow."

"Later," Buffy and Ichigo called as they ascended the stairs before grabbing Buffy's belongings and heading off to the Kurosaki household.

As they entered Ichigo's house, they smelled the scent of delicious food wafting out from the kitchen. Poking her head out from behind the kitchen door, a little girl that was wearing a cooking apron smiled at Buffy and Ichigo before placing a hand on her hip, "Ichigo! You're just in time for dinner! And you've brought another guest!" she stated excitedly as she looked over at Buffy, "It's a good thing I decided to make extra tonight."

"Thanks, Yuzu," Ichigo called as he smiled sheepishly at forgetting to tell Yuzu that they would be having company for dinner, "This is Buffy. She's a friend from school," he added and gave Buffy a little look.

Playing along, Buffy shook the young girl's hand, "It's very nice to meet you," she smiled down at the girl.

"You too! You'll have to meet our sister Karin as well and our dad. I'm sure you've already met Rukia though," she added as she turned and sprinted back into the kitchen.

Buffy and Ichigo followed soon after and Buffy was surprised when a man came flying through the air with his foot aimed at Ichigo's face. Buffy quickly pulled Ichigo to the ground, and the man crashed into the wall before bouncing up and pointing at the duo with a curious glare.

"ICHIGO! That's not fair, you had help this time. Next time I will truly show you the type of attack that only daddy can launch," the man shouted at his son.

"Get out of here goat-face," Ichigo muttered as he pushed his father out of the way and made his way over to the table. As he neared his chair, Ichigo was suddenly tackled as his father landed a follow-up attack on his son and starting wrestling him on the ground.

"How dare you not introduce me to your friend!" His father demanded as Ichigo yelled at him to get off.

"Please stop, the two of you!" Yuzu shouted desperately as she looked at the wrestling pair.

"Idiots," a girl with short dark hair muttered as she continued to eat her soup without looking over at the two.

"Karin! We need to stop them," Yuzu said loudly and then turned towards Buffy, "Oh! Karin, meet Buffy. She's Ichigo's friend from school."

Buffy watched as Karin's eyes flew open and she looked over at Buffy for the first time, "It's nice to meet you," she said with a half-smile as she eyed Buffy curiously.

"You too," Buffy replied as she stepped over the still-wrestling pair and seated herself next to Rukia, who greeted her warmly.

"How did the tutoring go?" Rukia asked Buffy as she picked up a dumpling with her pair of chop sticks.

"It went really well. Ichigo's a fast learner," Buffy commented and Rukia nodded.

"He definitely is."

"What were you tutoring our brother in?" Karin asked skeptically as she looked over at her.

"History," Rukia said instantaneously as she locked eyes with Karin and gave her a smile.

"Yup...I'm pretty much a guru," Buffy lied and could only wonder what her high school history teacher would do if she could hear her now.

"Hmmm, Ichigo 'did' get a terrible score on his last paper," Karin commented and watched as her brother sprung up from the floor before seating himself across from Rukia.

"Karin! Let's not talk about my grades," Ichigo demanded as he starting plowing into his food.

"Daddy will win next time," Ichigo's father said as he plopped himself next to Buffy and shook her hand, "Hello dearest Buffy! My name is Isshin Kurosaki and I am the beloved father of this house!"

"Shut up," Karin and Ichigo said simultaneously with dark scowls as Yuzu smiled widely at her father in adoration.

"It's nice to meet you," Buffy greeted with a tiny smile at Ichigo's family dynamic. They seemed so oddly normal, which was strange considering the lifestyle that Ichigo led behind closed doors.

Buffy also realized - very quickly - that neither of Isshin Kurosaki's daughters knew about his 'other' occupation either. That much was obvious by the way Isshin was skirting around various issues that they discussed at the table that involved Ichigo's frequent absences over the past few weeks. He had covered for Ichigo by stating that the boy had to go out and discover his own life and his own path in order to grow and "Make daddy millions one day," as he had put it. Ichigo had thrown his spoon at his father at that comment and Buffy and Rukia watched as the duo got into another all-out brawl around the house before Yuzu eventually calmed them down and brought them back to the table for dessert.

"So Buffy...how long have you been living in Karakura town?" Karin prodded and Buffy started to panic.

"Karin, my lovely daughter, what is with the game of 20 questions? You might as well give the girl a survey!" Isshin stated dramatically from Buffy's side and then there was a 'bang' as Karin punched her father in the ribs and he fell over in his chair.

"Stupid old man," Karin muttered under her breath and looked at Buffy, "Sorry," she added in embarrassment.

"It's okay. I make with the 'asking of questions' all the time, so I know how you feel," Buffy smiled but refused to answer her earlier question. Seeing that Karin was getting nowhere, she discontinued her interrogation for the time being.

As dinner came to an end, Buffy, Rukia, and Ichigo helped Yuzu with cleaning up and then made their way out to the family room to watch TV. After a while, Buffy was starting to feel anxious at the lack of activity - chalk that up to her off-the-charts energy boost from Taka-Rahn - and decided that she would take a walk. As she stood up and announced exactly that to her friends, she watched as Rukia also stood up and flashed her a smile.

"Mind if I join you? I could use some fresh air too," she stated and Buffy watched as Ichigo eyed the two of them suspiciously.

"Not at all," Buffy agreed happily. She hadn't spent much one-on-one time with Rukia so she was looking forward to it.

"We'll be back later," Rukia promised Ichigo and Buffy watched as she gave him a peck on the lips.

Smiling at the couple, Buffy began to realize that she missed Kensei. A lot. As sad as it was, this was the longest that they had been separated since they first met, including her bailing stint that had landed her in Hueco Muendo for the day. As much as she didn't want to be 'that' girl, Buffy longed to be in Kensei's bed, forcing him to cuddle with her as she rattled on about the day's events, much like she had done frequently in the past. Although Kensei acted like it annoyed him, Buffy knew that he loved it. It was moments like that that really made them realized why they loved each other. Well that and the fact that they were permanently bonded for life and couldn't really get out of it. It was almost like - Version: Eternity.

As Buffy and Rukia made their way outside, they walked together in silence for a while before their journey led them to walking by the Karakura bay. As Buffy looked out into the calm waters, she sighed happily and closed her eyes briefly before she heard Rukia clear her throat. Focusing her attention on the girl, Rukia flashed her a nervous smile.

"Um, Buffy, I kind of have to ask you about something private," Rukia revealed and Buffy could see her blush in the dark.

"Oh no..." Buffy murmured as realized what Rukia was about to ask with dread.

"Well...clearly you know what I'm about to ask. I just figured that you and Kensei had already..." Rukia waved her hands awkwardly in the air as if the word 'sex' would magically spell itself out lion-king style, using the light from the stars above.

"We have," Buffy confirmed, not really wanting to reveal the intimate moments of her relationship, but definitely feeling for the girl, "What questions do you have, Miss I-want-to-go-on-a-walk-with-you?" Buffy asked with a curious raise of her eyebrow.

"Sorry about that," Rukia said apologetically, "It just seemed like as good an opportunity as any. Besides, it's not like I can ask Byakuya about these things," Rukia said and both girls visibly shuddered. The thought of Byakuya giving the 'birds and the bees' talk was just as pleasant as being a test subject for the captain of the 12th division.

"Point made," Buffy declared, "So what did you want to know?"

As they walked on in silence for a few more minutes, Rukia finally spoke up, "How does it...you know...happen?"

"Well when a man and a woman are in love..." Buffy began with a teasing smile and Rukia shot her a glare, "Kidding. It really depends on who the couple is but, you really just have to be in the mood. It has to be the right time, you both have to be in a good mood or at least relaxed - well actually angry sex is fun too -" Buffy broke off her sentence at Rukia's look, "But my point is, is that it's all about timing. Sometimes you won't feel like it, and sometimes he won't feel like it."

"Okay..." Rukia breathed slowly, "But when the timing is right, how does the whole...you know...process start?"

Buffy smiled in amusement at her unwillingness to say the word, "Sex, I find, usually starts with a lot of kissing, a LOT of touching, a lot of clothes being torn off...do I need to say more?" Buffy asked not wanting to get too graphic.

"No..." Rukia said in relief. For a minute she had really thought Buffy was going to go all the way with her description, "So it kind of just happens?"

"Yeah. It kind of just happens. Sometimes there's magical intimate moments that come before it, I guess. Like holidays or birthdays or anniversaries, but mostly it's more about satisfying a need with the person that you love," Buffy revealed and watched as a frown formed on Rukia's face.

"Trust me, though, there are a lot of magical moments," Buffy shared and was relieved when Rukia's face lit back up. She hadn't wanted to crush the girl's fantasies, but a lot of what she had said was true. Sometimes she and Kensei would have sex just to relieve stress. Or because they were bored. Or because it was raining outside. There wasn't really a pattern to their routine.

"Does it hurt?" Rukia asked, interrupting her thoughts.

"It'll hurt a little at first, especially if it's your first time," Buffy said honestly, "There might be a little blood too, but that's normal."

Rukia looked horrified and Buffy decided to speak again before she could make any assumptions herself about what sex really was, "After the first time it doesn't hurt anymore. It feels, really good."

"Oh," Rukia said looking a little relieved and embarrassed.

"Yeah," Buffy trailed off and looked back at Rukia, "Anymore questions before I shut a lid on the sex talk?"

"How often do you and Kensei...?" Rukia struggled with her words.

"In a week or in a month?" Buffy asked seriously, "Because if it's in a month, then that's a lot of math I can't handle."

Rukia's eyes widened in surprise, "That often?"

"Tell anyone and you die," Buffy promised and the other girl nodded vigorously.

Just as Buffy was about the wrap up the 'sex talk' a blur of motion shot across her line of vision and she whirled around just in time to defend a blow from a super vamp. Jumping backwards to create distance between her opponent and herself, Buffy launched a round-house kick to the vampire's torso. Watching as he flew to the ground, Buffy immediately unsheathed her zanpakuto and prepared to chop the vamp's head off when she was suddenly caught off guard by another super vamp that landed a blow to the side of her head. Staggering, Buffy was nearly impaled by her own zanpakuto as the first super vamp regained his stature and collided with her. Winded, Buffy turned to see a fist crash into the center of the first vamp's face by an unknown assailant. At first, Buffy had thought Rukia was the one to knock him down, but after seeing Rukia fighting off the second vampire a good 20 feet away, Buffy realized that someone else had joined their battle. As Buffy rolled onto the ground, she connected her foot with the chest of the vampire above her and sent it careening into the sharp wooden stake of a firey-red-head whose curly hair was pretty much destroyed in the fray. Eyeing the other girl curiously, Buffy nodded at her as if to say 'thanks' before she quickly decapitated the super vamp that was circling Rukia.

As Buffy helped Rukia to her feet she was unprepared for the delighted shriek that was sent her way. Turning around, Buffy gazed at the girl who was now smiling, " .God! You're her, aren't you!"

Buffy exchanged a dark look with Rukia and feigned innocence, "I'm who now?"

"Buffy! Buffy Summers! You're pretty much a legend to us newbies. Our commander, Xander Harris, commissioned a giant portrait of you in the entrance hall to our headquarters."

Buffy frowned at that. Not because she was unappreciative of Xander's efforts to preserve her memory, but because she could only imagine how a portrait of herself must look hanging on a giant wall.

"Oh my gosh. I seriously can't believe this! Can I like, patrol with you?" the girl said in a typical valley-girl voice before she skipped towards Buffy, "I have to call Xander now! He'll be so happy to know you're actually alive. We all thought you were dead! The girls found you in the park and soo many people came to your funeral," the girl babbled on and Buffy raised an eye brow at that. A lot of people had come to her funeral? Feeling oddly satisfied by that thought, Buffy made her way over to the girl just as she was opening her phone to dial a number. Most likely it was Xander's.

Placing an arm around the girl's shoulders, Buffy gently closed her phone, mid-dial, before she smiled back at Rukia and nodded, "Let's wait and save the phone call for later. I think it would be absolutely perfect if you patrolled with me tonight," Buffy watched as the girl's face lit up before Buffy moved a hand to the back of her neck and promptly pinched the pressure point that she found there.

As the girl collapsed onto the ground before them, unconscious, Rukia unsheathed her zanpakuto and lifted it high above her head before bringing it downwards at a frightening speed.

* * *

/\\\\


	12. A Walk in The Park

**A/N: **Hey guys! Sorry but I'm literally about to run out the door as I post this, so I will respond to all reviews when I post Chps 14&15.

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||Chapter 12 - A Walk in the Park ||

* * *

Buffy quickly snatched the wrist that was hurling Rukia's zanpakuto towards the newbie slayer. Looking at Rukia in shock, Buffy's eyes quickly turned to anger, "Rukia what the hell were you thinking? We can't just kill her."

"I wasn't going to," Rukia replied sincerely and Buffy looked down at Rukia's zanpakuto and quickly saw that the spot Rukia had been aiming for had been at least a foot away from the girl's head. Rukia's zanpakuto would have plunged into the ground.

"Then what were you doing?" Buffy asked curiously.

"Getting out the kikanshinki to use on her, of course," Rukia said as if it was obvious.

"English-translation?"

"The memory-replacing device," Rukia stated as she took out what appeared to be a gray cigarette lighter with four green buttons on the side and showed it to Buffy.

"So what? You're gonna light up a few cigarettes and wait until the smoke gives the girl such a big headache that she forgets her memory? I don't see how that's going to work."

"Just watch," Rukia demanded as she stood over the girl and placed her thumb on the wheel of the device. Before she could do anything, however, a foot planted itself into the middle of Rukia's chest and sent her flying backwards.

Spinning around, Buffy quickly blocked a blow from the firey red-head as she attacked her with complete abandon. She was obviously furious with them for trying to knock her out, but why it hadn't worked, Buffy didn't know. All she could do was block another blow as the girl attempted to land her best attacks on the formerly oldest living slayer. Unfortunately for the new slayer, her best attacks felt as if someone had swatted Buffy with a stack of papers. They were somewhat stinging, but mostly annoying and uncalled for.

"Let's calm down," Buffy called as she caught the girl's fist in her hand.

"Not a chance," the girl muttered darkly as she continued her pointless assault on Buffy.

"What happened to being my biggest fan girl?" Buffy asked as she ducked under a roundhouse kick and moved out of the way of what appeared to be a bitch slap that was aimed at her face. The girl's attacks were slow, painless, and predictable.

"That was an act," the girl snarled at she attempted to land another blow to Buffy, "I was going to lure you out under the pretense of patrolling so that I could kill you."

"And why would you do that?" Buffy asked, playing along. She was pretty sure this girl couldn't kill a vampire let alone a former vampire slayer that was now imbued with the spirit of a celestial being. To say she wasn't curious as to why the girl wanted her dead was an understatement, though. Most of the people that had Buffy on their 'people I want to kill' list were not people at all. That aside, most of Buffy's enemies wanted to kill her. Not her allies.

"Because it's your fault that I'm like this!" The girl said with tears in her eyes as she gestured towards her body. Buffy was so surprised that she didn't even bother blocking the blow to her stomach that she barely felt anyway.

"Like what?" Buffy asked, although the answer was obvious.

"A vampire slayer! Did you ever stop to think that just because you didn't want to be the only slayer in the world anymore, that anyone else did? Yeah, there are many of us, I get that, but before I became a slayer things were perfect," the girl cried hysterically as she continued to try and land blows to Buffy's body.

"Now everything is shit. Thanks a lot, Buffy. Because of you, my entire family is dead because vampires came after them looking for me. I took up 'your' destiny and it ended up getting my family killed."

Buffy froze. She couldn't believe what she was hearing. The words that the red head had just dealt her were more painful than any of the attacks she was currently trying to land. Shaking with both confusion and guilt, Buffy suddenly wished she could snatch Rukia's memory-erasing device out of her hands and click it about 100 times. Before Buffy could respond, however, a blur flashed near them and about five super vamps appeared, looking alarmingly smug. Shouting warnings at her companions, Buffy watched as Rukia dove to the ground as a vampire flew at her. Watching as Rukia attempted to explode the vampire, she saw that the other shinigami was unsuccessful and that the attack had only left a scorch mark on the vampire. Eyes widening in alarm, Buffy cursed her luck. How the hell were these super vampires so strong? Soul Society had given the espadas permanent residence over the last few months, so there was no possible way for the vampires to feed off of the blood of the espada.

"Don't tell me to be careful, I'm a slayer. You're the one that gave up her power and then died. For all I know you're nothing but a weak human and I sincerely hope you are killed by one of those vamps, " the red head told her and Buffy rolled her eyes. Obviously the girl hadn't noticed Buffy's reactions to her attacks at all because she thought she was still above Buffy herself. Watching as the girl flashed her a sinister grin, her eyes suddenly became frightened as a super vamp stood behind the girl. Buffy shouted at her to move, but the girl just narrowed her eyes at her. Buffy watched in horror as the super vamp snapped the girl's neck in half - instantly killing her - and then proceeded to drain her of her blood. Not wanting to see anymore, Buffy turned around to her other companion and watched as Rukia was sent flying into the bay. Surrounded, Buffy attempted to think of a quick strategy to quickly down the vampires. Just as she was about to put her plan into action, a red burst of energy followed by an angry shout flew at her and one of the vampires erupted in a shower of dust. Buffy watched as Hiyori - in full hollow mask - stepped through the dust before swinging her zanpakuto at another vampire. Ichigo was right behind her and yelled something back at her before Hiyori flashed him a glare and they continued fighting the vampires. Between Hiyori and Ichigo, two more vampires were quickly taken out, and the remaining two were also quickly dusted as Lisa and Love appeared from the shadows and took off their masks.

"Rukia, are you okay?" Buffy heard Ichigo ask as he ran over to help his girlfriend out of the water before placing the jacket of his bankai uniform around the shivering girl.

"Fine I think," Rukia replied as she looked at Buffy curiously.

Buffy, however, hadn't noticed Rukia as she was currently staring at the body of the red-head in defeat. Her line of vision was suddenly obscured as the small blonde stood in front of her and pulled off her mask. Locking eyes with Hiyori's momentarily, Buffy watched as Lisa and Love dragged the girl's body near the bay before blasting ceros at it repeatedly, turning it to dust. Watching the scene in horror, Buffy's vision was once again obscured as both Rukia and Hiyori roughly pulled her away from the sight and walked with her further along the bay. Ichigo was trailing behind them at a slower pace, but he was obviously anxious to be somewhere. Where, Buffy had no idea, but it looked as if he was going to wet himself if he didn't get there soon.

"Will she go to soul society?" Buffy asked Rukia as they moved farther away from the scene and heard two more sets of footsteps joining the four of them, indicating that Lisa and Love had returned.

"I don't know," Rukia answered honestly, and Buffy was silent.

"I know you're upset, Buffy, but we have to move it the fuck along," Hiyori snapped and both Rukia and Buffy looked down at her in shock.

"Why? What's going on?" Rukia asked as she suddenly noticed her boyfriend's anxiety attack in back of them.

"Those vampires had been feeding on espada blood," Lisa commented.

"How? The espada are on our side now," Rukia questioned seriously.

"What isn't rightfully yours, or shamelessly given to you, can be taken by force," Love replied and both Buffy and Rukia's eyes lit up in understanding.

"Which is why we have to move it along," Hiyori said again before the group flash-stepped at once to Urahara's shop.

When they entered the eccentric man's home, they heard angry shouts coming from the basement. As they travelled below, they were greeted by the sight of Mashiro yelling sharply at Hachi to heal the victims. Buffy watched as both Halibel and Grimmjow were enveloped in boxes of yellow light before she looked off to the side. Urahara was holding a bag of ice to his swollen left eye and he limped over to Yoruichi who was currently wrapping her heavily-bleeding arm tightly. Ulquiorra was seated on the ground near them, bleeding from various wounds in his upper torso and lower waist. Overall, it looked as if the super vamps had gotten the best of them.

"How did this happen?!" Ichigo demanded as he took long strides towards Urahara and Yoruichi.

"How most evil things happen," Urahara replied as he held his sore jaw with his other hand, "They threatened us by telling us that they would kill Ururu and Jinta - who they had tied up with them - unless we forked over the espada blood. Amazingly enough, Grimmjow and Halibel immediately gave them their blood in exchange for the children. I think you and Buffy are rubbing off on them."

"But they took too much blood," Ichigo finished and watched as Urahara nodded.

"It transformed them and they easily over powered us, but didn't kill us. Instead they quickly moved on so that they could drain Buffy instead. I guess they decided we weren't worth it," Yoruichi said with a nod of her head as she ran her uninjured hand through her hair.

"And the kids?" Buffy asked, not loving the fact that a newbie slayer hated her for giving her power - and had been killed in front of her because of the same power (not to mention the girl's family had also been killed), and that the two kids living with Urahara had almost been killed because of her and her power as well. If there was ever a time where she needed one of Kensei's infamous pep-talks, this was it.

"They are safe and unharmed," Urahara responded happily, "Tessai escaped with them to Kurosaki's house."

Buffy would have sighed in relief at that if she hadn't felt the way that she did. What would have been an amazing day was eclipsed by several events and now all Buffy wanted to do was return to Soul Society and snuggle into bed with Kensei and pretend that the day had never happened. It was one thing to learn that she may forget her human memories over time, but another entirely to know that her power had damaged or nearly damaged many people. Her power was both a blessing and a curse. Because she had it, she could save others and prevent others from experiencing what she had gone through all of her life, but because she had it, people often came after her, trying desperately to kill her and those surrounding her. If she had kept her power like the newbie slayer had wanted, she would be facing the forces of darkness all on her own again. In giving up her power, however, she had destroyed one girl's life and potentially many others' and had also gotten herself killed. And where had that gotten her anyway? She was now fighting in an army with the same super strength - and then some - that she had had all along. If she gave up this power, she wouldn't be able to save the people she loved. But in having this power, the first had set his sights on her and was willing to kill anyone in his way.

Buffy watched as Lisa made her way over to her before she reached into her pocket and produced the cell phone of the fallen newbie slayer before gently placing it into Buffy's hand. Eyeing the phone curiously, knowing it would probably do more bad than good if she snooped around the dead girl's phone too much, she finally decided that she didn't care and slid the phone upwards before going into her recently dialed numbers. Looking at the very first dialed number, Buffy noticed that the number was not - in fact - Xander's. She knew Xander's number by heart, so unless he got a new one or the number was that to his new slayer headquarters, the girl had definitely not been trying to reach him. Curiosity getting the best of her, Buffy redialed the number as the others fell in a hushed silence to watch her actions.

"Hello. You have reached PBS Bakery. This is an automated service. Please listen to the following options and select the corresponding numbers," Buffy rolled her eyes and nearly hung up at the realization that it was just a bakery until she heard the presented options.

"For store hours and locations, press one. To request or confirm an order, press two. To contact a direct representative, press three. To report PBS Bakery sightings, press four."

Well that was strange. PBS sightings? Did they mean promotional things involving their bakery without their written consent? No. This was definitely strange. Against her better judgment, Buffy quickly pressed four and waited for the next prompt.

"You have chosen option four. Here at PBS Bakery we are dedicated to preserving the integrity and honesty of our corporation. As a result, once you have pressed one and stated the correct password, anything you say after the prompt will be recorded for our personal use. Please press one now."

Trying to think what the password might be, Buffy had absolutely no idea. Turning to Lisa, Buffy immediately pressed one and held the receiver up to the other girl's mouth.

"Just say something random," Buffy whispered to her at the bewildered look the other girl shot her.

"Buffy Summers?" Lisa questioned looking down at the phone. Buffy quickly pressed her ear back to the speaker.

"Password Accepted," Buffy's eyes widened in horror and she immediately pressed the button for the speaker phone so that all of the occupants of the training facility could hear, "Welcome to the Project Buffy Summers direct hotline. We are dedicated to preserving the integrity and honesty of our corporation. Our mission is clear. We believe in the former Council's original oath: Into every generation a slayer is born: One girl in all the world, a chosen one. She alone will wield the strength and skill to fight the vampires, demons and forces of darkness; to stop the spread of their evil and the swell of their number. She is the Slayer. She is the 'only' slayer," the machine emphasized and Buffy watched the mixed reactions from her friends, "Project Buffy Summers is dedicated to ensuring that the power that Buffy Summers released into other potential slayers is returned to her at once, for it is Buffy Summers' duty alone to defeat the forces of darkness until her last breath is expelled upon earth," Buffy's eyes narrowed at the phone in her hands at its revelation. Suddenly there was a scratching noise on the tape, as if someone had attempted to record over something, "Hello my dear project members," Buffy heard the unmistakable voice of Quentin Travers speak from the phone, "As I'm sure you've realized, Buffy Summers' presence is no longer with us on earth. This being said, we are focusing our efforts on the next slayer in line, Faith Lehane. At the following beep, please record any and all sightings you may have discovered of the slayer in question," at the beep, Buffy promptly slammed the phone shut before dropping the phone on the ground and stomping it into little tiny pieces.

"Fucking assholes!" Buffy shouted into the training facility as she collapsed to her knees and grabbed her hair in her hands.

Shaking her head viciously as she felt Rukia's hand on her shoulder, she stood up and walked towards the stairs of the training facility, "I don't even know anymore," she said quietly enough that only Ulquiorra - who had been standing by the stairs - could hear her, "Maybe I shouldn't have shared my power, after all."

As she left the training facility, making it clear that she didn't want to be followed, she walked until she found herself at the park that she had been at earlier in the day. As she sat on the same bench as before, she watched as Ulquiorra - once again - approached her before sitting down next to her. The duo sat in silence for about ten minutes before Buffy found that she could no longer take it. She had wanted to be alone, but at the same time, the man's presence was oddly comforting. Not as comforting as Kensei's, but in this situation, she would take it. Meeting his gaze, Buffy turned towards him before a low groan escaped her mouth.

"I thought dying meant you didn't have to worry about things in the living world anymore."

"That is exactly what it means," Ulquiorra responded and Buffy looked at him in surprise.

"You're not serious, are you?" she asked as she tried to read his face.

"Very serious," he admitted and turned his body towards her, "You left this world behind when you died, Buffy. I may not know you all that well, but it seems like you have a tendency to place burdens solely upon your own shoulders." Buffy found that she couldn't really argue with that.

"But you cannot in this situation," he held up a hand as Buffy was about to protest, "This is out of your hands. It does not involve you. I realize that this woman, Faith - whoever she is - means a great deal to you, but the situation is out of your hands. You have to let your own friends fight their own battles. They do not even know that you are - technically speaking, of course - alive. If you were to try and take on their battles for them, you would not only be exposing your life and your world as it is now-" Buffy could tell he was referring to her life and world in Soul Society, "To immense danger, but you would run the risk of overlapping your own battle into theirs and causing unfathomable chaos. You have your own loyalties now, and as much as I am sure you miss your loved ones here, your loyalties are to the loved ones that you have now, in Soul Society."

As Ulquiorra finished his little pep-talk, Buffy could tell that that was probably the longest period of time in which the former espada had ever spoken. As she reflected on what he said, she knew he was right, but she couldn't shake the feeling that she 'needed' to immediately find a phone, call Xander, and let him know what this PBS organization was all about. Yet again, Buffy reminded herself, Ulquiorra was right. If she picked up the phone and called Xander, she would be exposing herself to various complex situations that would directly interfere with her preparations against her battle with the First. She couldn't afford to have both of her worlds collide because it would literally, probably, end both of them. Sighing in relief, Buffy allowed a small smile to escape her lips. She could do nothing. She 'would' do nothing. It was out of her hands and she trusted the people of her past.

"Thanks Ulquiorra," Buffy breathed, "That was exactly what I needed to hear."

"You are welcome," the man-in-question stated as he also flashed her a smile before putting a hand on her shoulder, "Sometimes pain is better alleviated by sharing it with others."

Buffy nodded and then a thought struck her, "If you need to...you know...talk about what you went through?" she offered and watched as he shook his head.

"That will be a very long discussion that I will save for when you help us defeat the war against the First."

Buffy smiled and nodded, "Count on it."

She watched as Ulquiorra left, commenting that he wasn't used to feeling the exhaustion that comes with being semi-human. Buffy waited in the park for a few minutes longer before she returned to Ichigo's household. Slipping inside, she noticed that it was already dark in the house, but that she could sense Ichigo and Rukia's presence within the household. Sighing as she made her way over to the couch, she noticed that it had been already made into a make-shift bed for her. Reminding herself that she would have to thank the Kurosaki family in the morning, she slid under the covers and started to think about the day's events. She still had mixed feelings about everything that had happened. Guilt was plaguing her mind, while at the same time, relief and stress mixed in with her emotions to create a cataclysm that she could not avoid. As Buffy attempted to get some sleep, she decided to think about the one place that would make her relax: her inner world.

* * *

Snapping her eyes open, Buffy stood up from her position on the sandy beach and immediately noticed two things. The first was that beach blankets and tropical drinks had been set out at the edge of the island for two people. The second was that Kensei was standing across from her with an expression that was a mix of confusion and happiness at seeing her. Also looking confused, Buffy walked the short distance across to Kensei and wrapped her arms around his neck before bringing him down into a heated kiss. It was almost a sin that she had missed him this much. As Kensei wrapped his arms around her waist, Buffy buried her head into his chest before she heard footsteps behind her. Whirling around, Buffy watched as Taka-Rahn eyed the couple with a smile before setting a platter of fruit down between the beach blankets.

"Hello you two!" she chirped as she greeted the duo.

"Uh...hi?" Buffy asked as she looked between Taka-Rahn and Kensei, "How did you bring him here? Not that I'm complaining."

"Only I have the power to merge inner worlds," Taka-Rahn responded as she pointed out into the distance.

Looking across the waters, Buffy could clearly see rocks floating along the surface, forming a pathway to a large, steel building in the distance. The building itself was hard to see because it was so far away, but Buffy could clearly see tornados weaving in and around the building and wind pushing against the water that was surrounding the building from Buffy's own inner world. The water was creating huge, tsunami-like waves that would have scared Buffy in their enormity and power if they hadn't completely dissolved before reaching even half way across to the duo. Looking at the building curiously, Buffy turned back towards Taka-Rahn questioningly, but it wasn't the celestial being that answered.

"That's my inner world," Kensei admitted as he, too, looked in the distance, "But why is it so far away?"

"Because it was ruining the atmosphere," Taka-Rahn said in disdain as she looked at the building as well, "Especially that hollow of yours. He was being rude so I locked him in the third floor of the building, sorry."

"If you can show me how to lock him in the third floor myself, I'll accept your apology," Kensei said seriously as he wrapped his arms around Buffy's waist from behind.

"Maybe another day," Taka-Rahn said with a smile, "Right now I think you two need each other. I'll be hanging around your inner world, Kensei," with that, the mysterious being disappeared.

"So this is your inner-world, hmm?" Kensei questioned as he looked around at the serene, and beautiful, tropical island.

"My new one anyway," Buffy confessed and Kensei shot her a questioning look, "The old one was a desert when Sineya was still here."

Nodding in understanding, Kensei cupped a hand under Buffy's chin and met her gaze with his own, "Why have you been feeling so guilty lately? And stressed? And all-around panicked?"

"Did Taka-Rahn tell you that?" Buffy guessed as she placed both of her hands on Kensei's chest.

"No. I could feel everything," Kensei admitted as he pulled her even closer and planted a kiss on her forehead, "That whole connection thing, remember?"

"I couldn't feel you...or hear your thoughts," Buffy accused.

"If it helps, I couldn't hear your thoughts either. And you probably didn't feel me because I was relatively calm all day...I know, what a surprise," he added at her look.

"What's bothering you?" he prodded at her silence.

"I don't know. Nothing? Everything? Who knows anymore?" she mumbled as Kensei rubbed soothing circles into her back.

"I wish I could be there with you, and make everything go away," he confessed as he brushed her hair out of her face and gave her a soft kiss.

"Me too," she said as she leaned into his touch, "But at least you're here now."

"So are you going to tell me what's bothering you, or do I have to play charades?" he asked while holding her at arm's length.

"I didn't know about some stuff today...so when I found out, it was a huge shock and made me feel...alone and guilty," she confessed before seeing his look, "I know I'm not alone. I know I have you, and trust me, that is more than enough, but I sometimes feel like I'm alone when it comes to my power, if that makes sense," Buffy watched as he nodded in understanding.

"Having a lot of power can be very lonesome," Kensei reflected, thinking about Aizen and how his own quest for power had ended up with him being alone due to his distrust of everyone else. Although he knew Buffy wouldn't become like Aizen, he did worry that she would become depressed and keep to herself.

"It really can," Buffy breathed as she looked up at him, "I also found out that, it's possible for shinigami to forget their loved ones from the living world."

Kensei nodded slowly, "It's possible, but it doesn't happen to everyone and you have a pretty strong will, Buffy. I doubt you would lose your memories."

"I hope not," she confessed as she hugged him tightly before pressing her nose against his neck.

"And then, I met one of the newbie slayers, like I was worried about," she confessed and as she pulled back she saw a dark look pass over her lover's features, "We were going to erase her memory, because she recognized me, but then she attacked us and basically told me that getting her slayer powers was the worst thing that ever happened to her and because of me vampires attacked and killed her family. Right after she told me that, super vamps attacked us and killed her."

As Kensei processed the rush of words that poured out of Buffy's mouth, he held her face in his hands and pressed a kiss to her forehead, her nose, and then her lips, "Please, don't blame yourself for that. Think of all the girls that did appreciate what you did, and think about how many lives you are saving every day for sharing your power. She was an extreme example."

"But she was an example," Buffy protested and watched as Kensei shook his head firmly.

"One in a million, Buffy. Do you think Shinji, Rose, and I get praised every time we save a kid with our vizard masks on? No. For the most part we get terrified screams and mothers shouting at us to stay away from their children. Not everyone sees power as a saving grace. Some like to label it as a nightmare and leave it at that. You can't think about those people."

Buffy nodded, but the ball in the pit of her stomach refused to be released. She knew Kensei was right, but hearing it and believing it were two different things entirely, "And then Ururu and Jinta were nearly killed by the vampires so that they could consume Grimmjow and Halibel's espada blood so that they could challenge me and then drain me. They were almost hurt because of me, Kensei. Because of .power," she muttered but was immediately calmed somewhat when Kensei resumed rubbing her back.

"Enough," he said to her as he looked down at her quietly, "You know how I feel, Buffy, and you know how you feel. I can tell you anything you want to hear, but at the end of the day, you need to start believing in yourself and the people that love you."

"I know," she said quietly as she lightly traced his face with her hands. Buffy then proceeded to tell him everything else that had happened that day - including meeting Ulquiorra and Ulquiorra's advice.

"He's alive?" Kensei questioned and then at her nod he added, "He's right, though. You need to let your friends take care of that situation. It really doesn't involve you. That voice mail you heard even said as much considering they wiped your name from it."

"Hmmm," Buffy replied as she reflected back on that phone call.

"What is the power that he has against the First's evil whatevers?"

"I have no idea. Neither does he," Buffy answered and shrugged at her boyfriend, "Typical PTB."

"Hmph," Kensei agreed, "A lot of random shit happens when I let you out of my sight," he said with an exaggerated sigh before he grinned at her and smashed their lips together roughly. Buffy melted into the kiss and ran her hands through his hair as their tongues met in a clash and hands roamed underneath clothing to find the sweetest spots of each other's bodies.

Hearing a few windows shatter in the distance, the couple broke apart and glanced towards Kensei's inner world. After a few seconds passed, Taka-Rahn reappeared before them looking slightly winded and seriously pissed off, "Your hollow is a stubborn asshole," she declared. That was the first time that Buffy had ever heard her curse, "He wouldn't let you two have privacy. I think I've managed to contain him though, so carry on," Taka-Rahn stated with a smile before disappearing again.

"Well that ruined the moment," Buffy stated and watched as Kensei agreed with her.

"Now it just feels like we're about to have sex upstairs and my parents are bickering in the kitchen or something," Buffy sighed with a shake of her head.

"That's one way of putting it," Kensei laughed as he made his way over to the beach blanket and gestured for Buffy to come with him, "Let's at least relax for a bit. Can't let all this stuff go to waste," he said as he gestured towards the fruit spread and the drinks.

"Hmmm, that would be bad," she agreed as she settled herself onto the beach blanket next to him and grabbed one of the drinks.

"I miss you," she confessed as she popped a piece of pineapple into her mouth.

"I miss you too. What have you done to me?" he added as he looked at her with an amused smile.

Buffy glared up at him, "Hey, it's 50-50, buddy. Sometimes I wish I could go through a whole day without missing you, but considering where we are right now, it looks like that wish didn't quite come true."

"I don't hate it though," Kensei retorted as he looked around at Buffy's serene inner world.

"It has its benefits," she agreed as she kissed him again and took a sip of her drink.

"So what are you teaching Ichigo tomorrow?" Kensei asked as he laid back on the beach blanket and gazed up at the sun.

Buffy mimicked his actions, "Healing kido. I think he thinks I'm bizarre though because every time I've been around him so far, I've had somewhat of an emotional breakdown."

"Then I must think you're 'really' bizarre," Kensei snorted and Buffy lightly elbowed him in the ribs.

"Boyfriends don't count. They're used to that kind of stuff," she revealed as she curled up next to him and laid her head on his chest.

"Everything will be fine. Ichigo likes you, I can tell," Kensei revealed as he rubbed his nose against her hair.

"The last time you told me everything would be fine was this morning. That resulted in me giving Rukia the 'sex talk', running into a newbie slayer that wanted to kill me, finding out that my memories of my loved ones might go away, and discovering that there was an organization dedicated to reversing all the hard work I put into sharing my powers."

"You gave Rukia the 'sex talk'?" Kensei asked in amazement and Buffy elbowed him in the ribs again.

As much as she loved the man next to her, sometimes he really had a tendency to only focus on the things that mattered to him. Namely herself, and sex, and sex with herself. And sadly enough, she found that that was something that she could definitely live with.

* * *

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx


	13. Make It Happen

|| **Chapter 13**: Make it Happen ||

* * *

Buffy groaned as she woke up around 7 am on Thursday morning due to the sound of dishes falling onto a floor and breaking. Bolting up from the couch, Buffy stretched and yawned before she slowly made her way into the Kurosaki's kitchen. The past couple of days had blown by in Karakura town and now it was Buffy's second-to-last day in the living world. She had to admit, she had really enjoyed her time here, even though she missed Kensei. After their initial encounter with each other in their merged inner worlds, Taka-Rahn had refused to merge their worlds again after Kensei's hollow had called her a few choice words that had enraged the celestial spirit. Buffy had never seen her zanpakuto so angry before, but she was annoyed because it meant that Taka-Rahn was depriving her of Kensei-smoochies. She had no idea what he was up to, but she could tell that he had been absurdly stressed the past few days because there were moments during her training with Ichigo where she had randomly become extremely angry with the poor teen. Not knowing quite how to explain her connection with Kensei, Buffy had blamed it on PMS and Ichigo hadn't questioned it further. The teen was far too embarrassed to even go that route.

Looking at the shattered glass around her, Buffy quickly put on the pair of sneakers that she had left by the front door before she helped Isshin Kurosaki clean up the mess. As she scooped various shards of pottery into the trashcan Isshin smiled at her, "Thanks, Buffy, I'm sorry I woke you up."

"That's okay," Buffy said with a smile, "It's your house anyway, so it's not like I can complain."

"I was trying to surprise everyone by making breakfast, but then I remembered that I can't cook and this," he stated pointing to the broken dishes, "Is just a reminder of that."

"Happens to the best of us," Buffy commented as they finished cleaning up the mess.

"So you're a shinigami then?" Ichigo's father questioned her seriously and Buffy nodded.

"Yeah. I'm guessing your other two don't know about you and Ichigo?" Buffy asked and it was Isshin's turn to nod.

"It would just complicate things at their age," he commented and Buffy couldn't help but agree. Finding out that she was the Slayer at 15 hadn't exactly made her life easier.

"I can understand that," she confirmed as Isshin poured her a glass of orange juice and began attempting to make breakfast again. Buffy took a long sip of the orange juice and offered to help him, but he was determined to actually make a meal on his own.

"It's bad enough that all of this was placed onto Ichigo's shoulders," Isshin commented as he successfully made one chocolate chip pancake and set it onto a huge serving platter.

"Ichigo and I have a lot more in common than I originally thought," Buffy stated with a sigh as she thought of the teen. She had been called into her duty at the age of 15 and then pushed it away until she finally accepted it at 16. Ichigo had volunteered to fight the forces of darkness at 16 as well. Although they both had initially done it for different reasons, in the end they ended up doing it for the same reason. They wanted to protect their friends and family.

"I heard," Isshin nodded as he placed a few more pancakes on the serving platter, "Urahara happened to mention your past."

"Urahara is mysterious...and weird," Buffy commented and heard Isshin chuckle.

"He's absurdly smart and extremely innovative. If it weren't for his good nature, I'd be worried that he could easily take over the world. Fortunately for us, he's about as harmless as a puppy."

"Fortunately," Buffy agreed as she thought of the blonde shop keeper, "So do you know the rest of the vizards, then?"

"Yes, but I wouldn't exactly call them friends. I wouldn't call them enemies either though," he added at her look.

"So acquaintances?" she prodded and watched as he nodded again.

"They're good people as well. They just happened to run into a series of unfortunate circumstances," Isshin frowned as he placed the pancakes in the pre-heated oven and began to cook up some bacon and eggs.

"So I've heard," Buffy commented and thought of her boyfriend once more.

"What exactly happened Monday night?" Isshin inquired as he popped two pieces of bread into the toaster and prepared to fill a large serving jug with the rest of the orange juice. She had to admire him for holding out until Thursday about asking her that exact question.

"Oh you know, the usual. Evil attacked all around, revelations were made, I felt like shit, and I realized I can never contact my friends or family again," Buffy replied with a frown.

"Why is that?" He said curiously as Buffy stole a piece of bacon off of the frying pan before he placed that in the pre-heated oven as well.

"Because it would cause too many complications and I have a new life. They probably have their own lives now too. I'm not even sure I would want to see them, given the chance, so it's just easier and better if I don't altogether."

"It sounds like you're pretty set on that," Isshin commented as he finished putting the food in the oven and sat across from her at the kitchen table.

"I'm 100% set on that now, actually. I'm not going to go look for them, and if they happen to find me, I'll do whatever it takes to make sure that memory doesn't exist."

"Why the solid change of heart?" Isshin prodded as he leaned his chin on his hands.

"It's a lot of things. It's because of what I said before, and because of this war with the First. I need to focus on that so that Soul Society isn't destroyed. If I can't beat the First up there, then the First has a chance to destroy the living world. I can't allow that to happen," she confirmed with determination in her eyes as she sipped more of her orange juice, "Plus, you know, with Kensei and everything, I wouldn't just up and leave him to be with my family and friends again."

"You're dating Kensei?" Isshin said in surprise.

"Yeah," Buffy nodded and then paused before continuing her 'reasons why to avoid her past' list, "I'm not even sure that the Powers that Be would let me seek out my friends...I don't think that was in the contract."

"The Powers that Be sound like a bunch of control freaks."

"They pretty much are," Buffy agreed and watched as Rukia and Ichigo entered the kitchen.

"Morning," Ichigo greeted sleepily as he sat down next to his dad and Rukia settled herself next to Buffy.

"Good morning," Rukia also greeted before pouring herself a glass of orange juice. Isshin and Buffy greeted them back before Isshin pulled out the various foods from the oven and placed them on the table along with dishes and utensils.

"Shouldn't we wait for Yuzu and Karin?" Ichigo asked as he looked up at his father.

"They won't be up for a while. They were pretty wiped out after last night," Isshin commented and Ichigo looked concerned for his siblings.

Last night they had all stayed up way too late playing board games and watching movies, which had been really fun, but it had exhausted all of them. In the grand scheme of things, though, Buffy was glad that the night had happened. She had missed having that family dynamic and Rukia, Isshin, and Isshin's kids had made her feel right at home.

As Buffy began to dig into the food, she complimented Isshin's cooking efforts and watched as he nearly sky-rocketed through the roof. Ichigo rolled his eyes at his father before Isshin caught him and the two began another brawl in the kitchen. Buffy and Rukia just continued to eat, having been exposed to the behavior frequently over the past week. As the two finally made their way back to the table, Rukia slammed her foot onto Buffy's and Buffy dropped her fork on her plate as pain shot through her foot. Narrowing her eyes at Rukia, she finally understood the look that the other woman gave her.

Clearing her throat, Buffy immediately drew the attention of the men opposite her, "Isshin, I was wondering if maybe you wouldn't want to go down town with Urahara, Yoruichi, and I tonight," she paused as he looked at her in shock before continuing, "I already convinced the other two to go, though it didn't take much. I have a feeling they've been cooped up in that shop for too long," she rolled her eyes at her own thought before finishing her plans, "Tessai said he would take Jinta, Ururu, Karin, and Yuzu to the movies tonight while we were out and that they could sleep over at Urahara's."

Considering Buffy's suggestion thoughtfully, Isshin finished chewing on his eggs, "Yeah, sure, why not?" he answered as Ichigo's bewildered gaze settled between the two of them in confusion.

"You guys are going to go drinking together?!" he asked incredulously as he looked between the two adults.

"And your problem is?" Isshin snapped at his son as he bit into a pancake, "Even I need a little booze once in a while."

"I don't need to think about that," Ichigo commented as he scowled at his father and barely avoided his father's fork as it came smashing towards his hand.

"It'll be fun," Buffy interrupted as she smiled at Isshin and then kicked Rukia lightly in the leg. Rukia owed her big time for this one. She had wanted to get everyone out of the house for a few hours so that she and Ichigo could make love for the first time. Judging by Ichigo's reaction, however, Buffy wasn't so sure that the boy knew what he was in store for tonight. Smiling widely in amusement at that, Buffy relaxed her shoulders before she finished her meal. Either way, she was definitely going to have fun going out with her three older companions. Drinking was always fun unless the beer was tainted and turned you into a cave man.

"Alright, well. I'm gonna go shower and then...Rukia you said you wanted to go shopping, right?" Buffy asked as she looked over at the smaller girl.

"Yes," she said and Buffy inwardly frowned. Although she had agreed to shop with Rukia so that the other girl could buy both clothing and supplies for her 'romantic' night, part of her had hoped that Rukia had decided to go by herself. It wasn't that Buffy didn't want to help her friend, but she would have loved a day trip to the spa instead. Training with Ichigo had made Buffy's muscles ache over the past couple of days, and she was in serious need of some R&R. Ichigo had been the only shinigami to make her feel worn out and sore since she had obtained her new power. She had already known that Ichigo was on another level of his own entirely, but the past few days of training had only confirmed that.

"Alright, I'll be ready in 15," Buffy confirmed as she made her way to the guest bathroom and quickly showered and changed. When she made her way into the living room nearly 15 minutes later, she was dressed in a floral print dress and was wearing jeweled flip flops. Her hair was pulled into a loose bun at the top of her head, and she had light make-up on that accentuated her natural beauty. All in all, Buffy looked like someone who was ready to go shopping.

"Let's get Yoruichi to go, too," Buffy demanded as she looked over at Rukia, "I have a feeling she would be pretty good at this kind of thing," Buffy said seriously before Rukia made a 'shhhhing' motion with her finger and pointed to the kitchen.

Rolling her eyes, Buffy made her way out of the house and waited for Rukia to follow. As they arrived at Urahara's place, they were surprised to see Grimmjow and Halibel cooking breakfast in Urahara's kitchen. They watched as Grimmjow delivered a plate to both Yoruichi and Ulquiorra before turning to continue his cooking efforts.

"What is this?!" Buffy demanded in alarm as she looked at the two chefs in suspicion.

"It's not a huge surprise," Ulquiorra stated as he bit into what appeared to be a strawberry-and-chocolate filled crepe before he looked over at the newly-arrived duo, "Even though the espada's food of choice was other souls, once we reached espada-level Grimmjow was always attempting to make us human food to eat."

"It calms my nerves, okay?!" Grimmjow growled out as he continued to cook the deliciously-scented food. Buffy had almost wished that she hadn't already eaten Isshin's cooking.

"What are you so nervous about?!" Yoruichi demanded and Buffy watched at the other woman wiped her plate clean within seconds. The woman could eat, and thus, was a hero in Buffy's eyes.

"Che. As if it isn't obvious. With the remaining vampires in the area, we are in more danger than the rest of you of being attacked again," Grimmjow declared as he filled the crepe on the frying pan with strawberries, bananas, chocolate, nuts, and whipped cream before putting it on a plate and handing it to Buffy.

"I already ate," she confessed as she half-heartedly pushed the plate away.

"I don't care. You haven't eaten until you've eaten my food," he demanded and forced the plate into Buffy's hands. Buffy shrugged at the other occupants in the room before she settled herself at the table and began to dig into the crepe. Sure enough, it was like eating heaven. Well, if heaven was covered with chocolate and fruit and fluffy goodness - which it might be.

"This is amazing," Buffy declared and Rukia nodded with a hum as she, too, ate her second breakfast of the day.

"Now I'm going to have to train with Ichigo extra long tomorrow to burn this all off," Buffy whined as she continued to plow into her crepe.

"Nonsense," Yoruichi declared as she looked towards Buffy, "A woman needs shapely curves. If you've got it, flaunt it."

Buffy smiled, "Unless those shapely curves just end up being fat."

"In your case, I doubt it," Yoruichi commented with a laugh. Buffy frowned at her. She knew she was skinny - despite being muscular and toned - but she wasn't 'that' unshapely.

"Anyway, we didn't come here to eat delicious crepes, even though they were amazing," Buffy said as she smiled at Grimmjow and then turned towards Yoruichi, "You up for a shopping trip soonish?"

"Of course," Yoruichi said as if it were the only thing she had ever even considered doing for the day, "When do you want to leave?"

"Kind of now," Buffy responded and watched as Yoruichi rose from her chair before moving to rinse off her dish. Before she could complete her task, however, Halibel yanked the dish away from her and proceeded to wash it herself.

"For letting us freeload," she commented at Yoruichi's surprised look.

"Eh, I pretty much freeload myself," Yoruichi shrugged as she looked around the shop and then placed her hands on her hips, "Alright ladies, let's go."

* * *

An hour later, all three women had various bags in their hands and were eyeing the stores around them with lust. It really wasn't fair that Karakura had such good shopping. Who would have thought that for such a tiny town, they would have some amazing bargains and the latest fashions? Certainly not Buffy. Buffy and Yoruichi had successfully helped Rukia pick out of few pieces of lingerie for the evening along with a sexy red halter dress and black pumps. They had also visited a sex shop - much to Rukia's embarrassment and Buffy and Yoruichi's delight - and picked out a few things for their respective lovers. It was then that Buffy realized that Yoruichi and Urahara had been an item for quite a long time.

Looking down at her many bags, Buffy nearly groaned in despair, "Kensei is going to kill me when he sees everything I bought," she whined as the trio sat on a bench and sipped on the frozen lattes that they had just purchased.

"Why? Are you spending his money?" Yoruichi asked as she raised her eyebrow in curiosity.

"No, but I'm spending most of my time at his place now days, which usually means that all of my girly stuff clutters his room. He gets pretty annoyed about it," she said with amusement.

"You should have seen the look on Kisuke's face when I started doing that to him," Yoruichi reflected with a smile, "He was confused more than anything else. He thought half of my stuff was some sort of invention that he had accidentally left lying around. Men are so clueless."

"Seriously," Buffy agreed and Rukia frowned at them, "Oh, you'll understand soon," Buffy admonished as she looked at the smaller woman.

"You will," Yoruichi agreed as she patted Rukia lightly on the arm, "I'm surprised it took you and Ichigo this long to get together."

"What do you mean?!" she demanded as some of her latte fell onto her shirt and she attempted to remove the stain with a flimsy paper napkin.

"Please, you two have always had unresolved sexual tension," Yoruichi stated flatly as she flipped her hair over her shoulder.

"That's not true!" Rukia sputtered.

"Alright, alright, new topic," Buffy demanded as she looked around the crowded mall.

"When is Kensei's birthday?" Yoruichi asked suddenly while looking at Buffy intently.

"It's not until July 30th. Why?" Buffy asked in surprise.

"Oh. Never mind then, for some reason I thought it was earlier. I was going to ask you what you were planning, but clearly you have plenty of time."

"I have a month to plan at least," Buffy muttered darkly, "You guys will need to help me though."

"We should just do a huge combination birthday for Ichigo, Kensei, Hisagi, and Grimmjow since they all have birthdays that are within weeks or days of each other," Rukia suggested.

"I'm good with that, but what about the other summer birthdays of our friends? I'm sure Hiyori would kill us all if we didn't lump her into the celebration," Buffy responded as she thought of the tiny, blonde fire-ball.

"Then we should do one huge celebration," Rukia agreed, "Besides, didn't you say Hisagi and Kensei were pissed because they couldn't have their end of the year party?"

"Yeah," Buffy confirmed with a shake of her head, "I was pissed too."

"Then it's settled, that's what we'll do," Rukia confirmed as the trio threw out their empty coffee cups and made their way out of the mall.

* * *

Several hours later, Buffy found herself in a booth next to Isshin, with Urahara and Yoruichi sitting across from her. The four adults had decided to grab a later dinner around 10 before they started their drinking adventure. Buffy was currently wearing a strapless sapphire-blue dress with high, black pumps. Her hair was tied into a low ponytail that she had curled at the end and swung over the front of her right shoulder. Her make-up was a bit more intense for the evening. She was donning silver eye shadow with her eyeliner done in a cat-eye fashion and her lips were smeared with gloss. Across from her, Yoruichi was wearing a beige-colored halter dress and violet pumps that matched her hair. Urahara - she noticed with satisfaction - was not donning his usual green robes. Instead, Yoruichi had somehow gotten him into a pair of black jeans and a green tank top with a black leather coat over it. Buffy couldn't help but notice that he cleaned up fairly well. As for Isshin, he was currently wearing a pair of jeans and a red blazer with a black tank top underneath it. The single dad of three looked pretty damn good tonight, Buffy mused as she took in his appearance.

Buffy watched as Yoruichi smiled widely when the waiter brought over their tequila shots and lime wedges. Sucking in her breath, Buffy prepared herself to down the bitter liquid. As the four clanked their glasses together, they immediately downed the shots in the proper manner before two of the four made disgusted faces at the drinks. Buffy and Yoruichi simply nodded their heads at the buzzed feeling they were experiencing, while the men at the table groaned in disgust at the liquid. Buffy couldn't help but find it amusing that the two women at the table could handle their liquor better than their male counterparts. If Kensei were with her tonight, however, Buffy knew that he would easily out drink them all. Kensei had a tolerance level that bordered on 'out-of-this-world'. Whenever he 'did' get drunk, however, Buffy loved it. He was so lovey-dovey and hilarious that it was a complete 360 from the normally stoic, temperamental 9th division captain. She had only witnessed sir 'hugs-a-lot' twice, but that had been enough for her. She had only wished she had had a cell phone to take proof of the events. The only other person that could match him was Rangiku herself, and the woman had been going pro at drinking for years.

"Alright, that was shot number three. I expect everyone at this table to be blackout by midnight," Yoruichi demanded as she slammed her glass onto the table and shoved a handful of French fries into her mouth.

"Ughhhhh," Urahara wined as he thought of that statement.

"You agreed," Yoruichi accused as she placed a finger in the center of her boyfriend's chest.

"I know, I know," Urahara sighed, "I'll keep my promise. Scout's honor," he said before signaling off to the occupants of the table.

"I guess that means we have to, too," Buffy commented and Isshin clanged his empty shot glass against hers in cheers.

Buffy watched as Yoruichi called the waiter over and demanded another round of shots. This time she had ordered car bombs. Buffy cringed at the thought. Tequila, she could handle just fine. Jagermeister, on the other hand, was disgusting. The black-liquorice taste was not her favorite and it was definitely the type of liquor to linger in your mouth. As the next round of drinks came, the group quickly threw the jagermeister shots into their plastic cups of beer before downing both. Shaking her head in disgust - finally - Buffy quickly took several sips of her sake to clear the taste of the jagermeister out of her mouth. The unfortunate problem of chasing alcohol with more alcohol, however, was that as Buffy started to sip on the sake, she felt even more buzzed and was definitely starting to become tipsy.

Feeling the warmth in the pit of her stomach bubble up from her latest shot, Buffy smiled at nothing in particular before she stuck her fork into one of her steamed dumplings and downed it hungrily. The other problem with drinking a lot was that she had a tendency to eat pretty much everything in sight, not that she didn't do that normally. As Buffy gingerly wiped her mouth free of soy sauce, she looked at Isshin's watch and noticed that it was now 11.

"We should probably get the check and get out of here," Buffy commented before calling her waiter over and asking for separate checks.

"Actually," Urahara interrupted and Isshin gave him a knowing look, "The men at this table will be treating tonight, so please just bring two checks."

"Aww thanks guys!" Buffy said happily as she flashed a bright smile at her male companions.

"You're welcome," they both said simultaneously before Yoruichi let out a giant belch and everyone looked over at her with a mixture of disgust and amusement.

"I make no apologies tonight," she stated as she waved a hand as if to shoo them away.

"This is why I love you," Buffy suddenly declared as she looked towards the woman.

"The feeling is mutual," Yoruichi declared and then grabbed Buffy's arm before dragging her out of the booth and into the ladies room.

"Let's freshen up, while the boys pay," Yoruichi declared and the two of them dug around in their purses for various make-up items before applying them sloppily to their faces. Although the make-up had ended up going on neatly, it had taken Buffy and Yoruichi several tries to get it just right.

"Why 'is' it that girls always go to the bathroom together when they're drunk?" Buffy asked aloud.

"Hmmm, it must just be a sisterly bond type of thing," Yoruichi answered before borrowing Buffy's perfume and spraying it on her neck and arms.

"Alright, let's get going before we find out that our buddies out there actually did a dine and dash and left us with the bill," Buffy remarked as she left the bathroom with her purple-haired friend.

As they looked around, they spotted Isshin and Kisuke waiting at the exit of the restaurant. Following them, the group of four made their way a few establishments over to a rather noisy bar that was filled with both young adults and older adults who were drinking and having a good time.

"Cherry bombs?" Buffy questioned Yoruichi with a shrug.

"Cherry bombs," Yoruichi confirmed and Buffy sighed in relief. Cherry bombs were infinitely more delicious than jaggermeister due to the red bull and cherry-flavored UV liquor that they involved and Buffy knew that it would wash the liquorice taste from her mouth instantly. As the group downed their 5th shot, Buffy suggested that they stick with beer for the rest of the night considering that it was infinitely cheaper. While Yoruichi had frowned at that, Buffy noticed that their two male companions seemed instantly relieved by her suggestion. As Buffy waited while Isshin bought her a beer, she was suddenly grabbed by Yoruichi as the lights dimmed even more and loud music started to pump through the bar. Letting herself go - considering she was now happy-drunk - Buffy danced along to the music with abandon as she accepted the beer from Isshin and quickly downed it. Once that beer had been replaced by Urahara, Buffy found that the room was starting to get blurrier with her 7th drink of the night.

"Ya know..." Buffy slurred loudly to her dark-skinned friend over the music, "I...awways...liked youu...righ from da start," she declared and was suddenly squeezed tightly by her companion.

"Me...too! I kn..." Yoruichi trailed off, stumbling over her words, "ew...we'd hit it off...righ awayy!"

Buffy turned to see Isshin laughing a little too loudly and too viciously at something that Urahara had said. Urahara, for his part, was also wheezing at his own joke, and Buffy found that the situation was too amusing to be ignored. Stumbling over to the duo, she wrapped her arms around both of them before squeezing them tightly to either one of her sides.

"You guys...you guys are tha best," she declared as she ruffled their hair.

"You too," Isshin said and attempted a serious face but he couldn't help himself and ended up bursting into laughter with the effort.

"I though...I though you didn't like me..." Urahra whined with a pout.

"Thas not true. I jus...didn't know wha to make of you..." Buffy said honestly and watched as Urahara sighed in relief.

As the group finished their 7th drinks, Yoruichi demanded that they purchase more, and no one could argue with her. She was the unofficial leader of their outing, even though Buffy had suggested it in the first place, and she would take no prisoners with her on her way to blackoutdom. As the group clanged their 8th drink together, they finished it a little too quickly. Buffy walked shakily towards her friends as she attempted to tell them about the guy she had seen falling over, but the words wouldn't form that well so the group had just ended up laughing at her misfortune instead. All in all, Yoruichi's wish was coming true as the group had pretty much moved past drunk and were dipping in and out of black-out-mode.

Suddenly Buffy felt very scared. As she looked around through heavy eyelids, she looked around for the source of her fear without success. Not comprehending that the feelings were not her own, Buffy stumbled into Yoruichi before leaning into to whisper in her ear.

"I'm scarrreddd," she whined as she gripped Yoruichi's arm tightly.

"Scared?" the other woman questioned her in confusion and Buffy nodded.

"We're going...outtsidee for frash air," Yoruichi said loudly to their male companions as she dragged Buffy outside of the bar and into the nearby alleyway.

"Why scared?" she asked like a curious child.

Buffy was suddenly hit with another wave of intense fear followed by an enormous wave of grief and agony before she sobered up and realized that these feelings were not her own. Instead, she was feeling Kensei's feelings and they were going into overload. Something was most definitely wrong in Soul Society. Attempting to clear her drunk state-of-mind a little more, Buffy tried to hone in on her lover's feelings but all she could feel was extreme fear, intense grief, and rippling waves of agony. Sinking to her knees, Buffy let out a pained cry as another wave - stronger than the others - of agony gripped at her insides and she placed a hand over her chest.

Shaking her head, it seemed that Yoruichi was also forced to sober up, "Buffy, what's wrong?" she demanded as she gripped her blonde companion by the shoulders.

"It's Kensei. Something is wrong in Soul Society. I can feel him," Buffy stated as she continued to hold her chest in pain.

"How can you feel him?" Yoruichi asked in shock as she looked down at the girl in front of her.

"It's a long story, but it doesn't matter. Something is going down in soul society and we need to get there yesterday," Buffy demanded and watched as Urahara and Isshin emerged from the bar.

"Whas wrong?" Kisuke slurred as he made his way over to the duo.

Yoruichi slapped Kisuke and watched as he was shocked into soberness. Satisfied with the outcome, Yoruichi did the same to Isshin, who looked annoyed, "Buffy says that something major is going down in Soul Society and that we need to get there now. Can you get us there Kisuke?"

"We'll need to get Ichigo and then get there from my place," Urahara said seriously before looking over at Isshin, "What will you do?"

"I'll be on standby until you need me," Isshin revealed as the group quickly dispersed.

Buffy, Urahara, and Yoruichi went directly to Urahara's shop and Isshin left to collect both Ichigo and Rukia. As Buffy and her companions made her way into the shop, they immediately woke up the sleeping espada and Ulquiorra as they collectively made their way to the basement. Several minutes later, Isshin appeared with his two companions, who were looking extremely flustered and embarrassed. It was pretty obvious that Isshin had either interrupted their love-making or had seen them post love making, but considering the look on Rukia's face, it seemed like he had seen them post-love-making instead.

"I will talk to 'you' later," Isshin warned Ichigo as he fixed an icy glare on his son.

"Fine, whatever, but just tell us what's going on," Ichigo declared as he looked around at the half-worried, half-confused group and spotted Buffy holding her chest while on her knees.

"Buffy, what's wrong?" he asked curiously.

"It's Kensei...something is happening in Soul Society, and three guesses as to what that might be."

"The First," Ulquiorra stated from Buffy's side and watched as she nodded.

"We need to get there stat, Kisuke," Buffy demanded as she stood up and immediately regretted it. Kensei's feelings mixed with her enormous amount of alcohol consumption had left her largely unprepared to deal with whatever was waiting for them in Soul Society.

She could only hope that the battle would somehow sober her up because, as it stood, she would basically be stumbling into the First, rather than fighting him. Buffy watched as Urahara went to work on opening the portal. As the group waited anxiously for him to open the gate that would lead into Soul Society, they grew frustrated at the length of time that it was taking him. Rolling her blood-shot eyes at the blonde shop keeper, Buffy stomped over to him before fisting the collar of his shirt in her hands and practically growling at him.

"What the fuck is taking so long, Kisuke? Hurry up! Soul Society needs us NOW."

"It won't open," Kisuke said so quietly that only Buffy could hear him.

"What?!" she demanded as she moved her face more closely to his.

"It won't open," he said again and Buffy could see that he looked visibly horrified.

"What the fuck do you mean it won't open!? It has to open!" Buffy screamed across the underground facility. She could not sit idly by - once again - during one of the First's attacks. The first time had cost her division members. The second time - she was sure - would cost her lieutenants and captains, and she was not willing to lose them.

"It won't open?" Ichigo asked in horror and the others echoed his sentiments.

"There is a dark spiritual pressure locking the gate in place. I can't get around it," Kisuke murmured and Buffy watched as he flashed various kido at the gate.

"The First," she moaned as tears leaked out of the corner of her eyes unwillingly, "No...NO! I don't care if we have to tear a fucking hole in between dimensions, Kisuke. Get us in there!"

Kisuke whipped around so fast that Buffy nearly stumbled backwards before he fixated her with a determined glare, "That's it!" he said as he walked towards her, "You're brilliant, Buffy."

Buffy, having never been told that in her entire life, was completely speechless, "What?!" she breathed as she looked at him curiously.

"We can't get into soul society the normal way. That much is obvious. So instead, we will tear a hole into soul society from a random point in the inter-dimensional boundary. To do this, we will need everyone in the room's spiritual pressure being used at once. Yours alone would probably get the job done, but it will drain the spiritual pressure somewhat and we can't risk using all of yours," Kisuke told her as the occupants of the room gathered around him.

"Then let's fucking do it," Grimmjow snapped as he all but pumped a fist into the air.

"If we can get rid of that idiot then I will gladly give up all of my power," Halibel said from Buffy's right.

"Count me in, I've got nothing to lose," Ulquiorra agreed with the others as he, too, surrounded Kisuke.

"Then it's settled. Let's do this," Ichigo stated as he, his father, Rukia, and Yoruichi also moved into the circle.

"Alright, everyone be extremely careful and channel your energy at once into the area that I mark with this red kido," Urahara stated and watched as everyone pressed their palms outward, preparing themselves.

As the group saw the red kido flash into the distance before them, they closed their eyes and gathered their energy before releasing it into the space. Hearing a large, 'boom', Buffy opened her eyes to see electricity flowing out from a gaping hole in the space before them. Looking at Kisuke, she nodded before moving towards the hole.

"You guys owe me. Fixing this facility will take forever," Urahara muttered as he stumbled over to the hole next to Buffy.

"Cry me a river," she snapped before turning towards the others, "Let's go."

* * *

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End file.
